The Origin of Mount Woe
by Nanaki
Summary: Part One of the Mount Woe duology, covering the events of 12,020 to 12,010 B.C. The story of the true "King of Zeal", and how he began the creation of the greatest civilization the world had ever seen. Now in the Chapter by Chapter format that the rest of FFN has been using for, like, twelve years.
1. Prologue and 1: The Spark of an Idea

**The Origin of Mount Woe: Prologue**

By Nanaki

12,500 B.C.

Lavos slowly shook himself from the twenty second level of meditation, the closest he ever came to true sleep. Something was happening in the future. He snorted angrily. Just because he could manipulate time didn't mean he liked to. It took far too much effort. He was still too tired at any rate. He would just wait for the future to come to him.

He felt that his carrier was still deep in the ground, gathering magma for when the time came to leave this world. It was an instinct of his kind. This was the first planet he had visited. He had come here as a baby, hurled from his mother's planet too many years ago to count. As a result, this planet had a much longer life than usual, while Lavos grew up.

He then had a realization. That was what had woken him up! He was finally ready to really begin his life. He would drain the planet of it's natural energy, and absorb the DNA of the species that dwelt there. Then he would find another world, ripe for the picking. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that he would one day have to fly into a black hole, to make room for others of his kind. But in the meantime, just this portion of this galaxy had dozens of planets to gorge on!

But he was getting ahead of himself with these thoughts. Using his magic to scan the landscape, he saw the planet was still suffering from his arrival. He began to feel a bit of apprehension. Surely some ecosystems had survived to support advanced life forms. Then he detected the humans.

Oh no! These miserable creatures wouldn't do at all! He decided to use a portion of his own powers to help them out. After all, every good farmer knew that he had to invest a portion of his gain back into his stock. That would cause a better result in the end. So Lavos unleashed a miniscule portion of his power out to his humans.

At least, that's what he planned. But in fact, this was the first time he had done this. His magical centers kept pumping out power long after he wanted them to stop. When he finally succeded, he felt so tired that he attached the magical waves to the planet itself, instead of him. He prepared to rest again, but not for long. He would check back in a mere five hundred of this planet's years, to see just what he had done.

He felt smug as he increased his meditation. So he had made a mistake on his first attempt at something. He was new at this. But he would suck this world dry, and no one could stop him!

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"Dark force!... Wild... energy!" - Schala

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**The Origin Of Mount Woe Chapter 1**

**The Spark Of An Idea**

By Nanaki

12,020 B.C.

King Vigo of Allegan awoke with the dawn. At least, what he guessed was dawn. The blizzard was raging again, but he seemed to know when the sun was rising. He saw that his Chief Blacksmith, Melchior, was also braving the storm. "Good morning Melchior!"

The man, in his mid thirties, turned. "Morning, yes, your majesty, but it won't be good until the weekly clearing, and Gaspar says that's two days away." He was about to say something else, but a flurry of snow blew into him and he staggered back. "I wish we could find some way of controlling this blasted weather!" He finally sputtered.

"Maybe we can." Vigo muttered, looking at the clouds.

"Dreaming again sire?" Melchior asked. He was used to this sort of thing.

"Not exactly. Yesterday, one of our exploration teams discovered evidence that people weren't always like they are now."

"How so?" Now he was curious.

"Apparently, they couldn't make fire. Many of them froze to death if they were caught out in weather like this."

"But that's crazy! Just a few simple words and you can have a great blaze going!"

"They couldn't. They couldn't control anything in their world."

"To die... For want of a few simple words..."

"Anyway, one record, nearly a thousand years old, says that everything started to change suddenly. People started having partial control of the rocks, fire, and such. Not nearly like today, but it helped. It looks as if we've steadily been gaining power for almost a millenia."

"Control of rocks, you say..." But Vigo was no longer paying attention. Standing at the entrance to one of the largest caves in the kingdom was the object of Vigo's affection, Zeal. Melchior smiled. Until Vigo had met Zeal one of the rare nights he came to the public fire, Melchior had been afraid that their new young king had no people skills.

Now Vigo was at the fire every night, trying to woo her. He did not know that Zeal was one of the most sought after maidens in the kingdom. Or that she had turned down every potential suitor so for. Or that she was not the least bit impressed by the fact that he was the king. He did know that she was very intelligent as well as beautiful, and that was why he preffered her to all the airheads pining for him.

"Your majesty!"

"Uh, yes?" Vigo turned around sheepishly. Melchior had brought him back to the present. He found himself resenting it. "Excuse me a minute, Melchior. I'll be right back."

Zeal turned and walked back into the cave the moment she saw Vigo heading her way. "More control over the elements huh?" Melchior wondered. "Perhaps someday we can rise above the limitations of our climate."

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"How did we come by our powers? And why do others lack them? Who cares?!" - Anonymous


	2. The Discovery

**The Origin of Mount Woe Chapter 2**

**The Discovery**

By Nanaki

12,020 B.C.

Vigo was momentarily blinded by the comparative darkness of the tunnel. He stumbled into the wall, then felt someone catching him. "Another brilliant move by our invincible leader?" Vigo knew the teasing voice to belong to his best friend, Karak. "Blinded by love again, I see."

"Very funny. It's fairly bright outside for a non clear day. I found hard to see in here."

"Because you had your eyes on Zeal the whole time. Admit it."

"If you tell me where she went." Vigo said, searching the area for any sign of her.

"She'll have to wait, majesty." Karak said jokingly. "Another party of explorers has returned and they say they've got big news."

"How big?" Vigo wanted know how long this would take.

"To judge by the rumors floating around here, as big as that mountain." Karak pointed out to sea, where Enhasa, the mountain of dreams, soared up out of the water. Vigo sighed and went further into the cave.

Belthasar, the head of the explorers, ran up to meet him as he approached the council cavern."Your majesty! I thought I should fill you in before you're bombarded with questions. We found a document that tells of ways to warm the air, shape the ground, and even to move mountains! Apparently, the people who wrote it at the time did not have the power to do these things. They estimated that magic power would continue to grow over the ages, but they did not know how long it would take."

"Are you saying we have the power to do these things?"

"I don't know. But there's a whole chamber full of people in there waiting to find out." Now Vigo groaned. "Another wonderful part of being king, eh Vigo?" Belthasar smiled.

"Oh yes, one of the job's many perks." Vigo took the parchment that Belthasar handed to him and strode confidently into the room. The sound of thirty advisors and other people of minor power trying to make themselves heard at once assaulted his ears. He did not even try to quiet them. He knew the noise would continue until they wore themselves out. In a few minutes, they would even forget he was in here. Glancing around the chamber, he saw Zeal standing next to her father, Maro. Maro was one of the most powerful wizards in Allegan. Vigo decided he might actually be worth talking to.

Seeing him heading her way, Zeal prepared an indifferent attitude. She was surprised to see him blaze right past her. "Good morning Maro, what do you make of this discovery?"

Maro squinted his failing eyes. "Ah, Vigo. I feel that a major change is about to take place in our kingdom. But I cannot hypothesize what those changes might be, as all the newly discovered records have not been copied yet."

As if that was a cue, a young boy with a sour expression on his face, loaded down with a bundle of parchments, stomped into the room. It looked to Vigo like he was grumbling something to himself, but he couldn't hear what. He watched the boy circle the chambers, roughly tossing sheets of paper at the advisors, who continued to argue anyway.

The boy stopped his grumbling as he approached Vigo, but his surly expression did not waver. Vigo watched amused, as he dropped the last of the papers next to Maro. On his way out, the youth stepped on Vigo's toes, doing his best to make it looke like an accident. Vigo quickly grabbed him by the collar, raising him to eye level. "And who are you, my fine young hooligan?"

After seeing a protracted period of swinging his suspended limbs wasn't doing any good, the boy answered. "Dalton, your high and mightyness."

"Well Dalton, O sultan of sarcasm, tell whoever sent you on this errand I don't want you sent on any more."

Dalton's expression brightened. "Thank you, highness!" He said sincerely. Vigo set him down, and he ran out of the room.

Vigo turned back to Maro. "Remind me to keep an eye on that one. Now, let's see just what he reluctantly delivered." Vigo picked up the scattered pile of papers and scanned through them quickly. He would read the particulars later. Nothing really caught his eye until he reached the last page. A rough map was drawn on half of it. The other half contained a drawing of a simple round stone, with lines thrust outward to indicate that it was glowing brightly. Next to it, notes were written in an apparently undeciphered language. He glanced back at the map.

"Hey!" He finally called out over the noise in the room. "Somebody get me-"

"Translations of the map page!!" Another messenger ran into the chamber. Now all the advisors turned to the last page of their handouts, and accepted the translation with interest.It was dead quiet as everyone read the message.

"WE Believe that the sun stone was created many millions of years ago, when the climate began to change. It can store the infinite energy of our sun. However, at this time, no mage is powerful enough to control it. perhaps in the future, the sun stone can realize it's full potential."

"Wow." Vigo raised his eyebrows. "It can store the energy of the sun?" Just then, Belthasar walked back into the room.

"You've read the map page?"

Vigo nodded. Maro suddenly touched his temple. "I sense, young majesty, that you are about to become an explorer."

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"I must ponder'eth this turn of events." - Glenn


	3. Journey in the Snow

**The Origin of Mount Woe Chapter 3**

**Journey In The Snow**

By Nanaki

12,020 B.C.

"It will be a very long journey." Belthasar told the gathered explorers. "It will probably take two months, at least. King Vigo wants only the most hardy explorers on the journey." The explorers murmured among themselves. If the journey was going to take two months, their target must be an amazingly long way away. Many of the men had families they did not wish to leave for that long, and so they left the room.

Belthasar was left with a room of young bachelors, and surprisingly, now that he could see the back of the room, Zeal. He raised his eyebrows. "Now then, we're going after an ancient artifact called the Sun stone. It is supposedly very powerful. Anyone who is very sensitive to magic may not want to come." A few more people left the room.

"Thank you gentlemen. I'm sure Vigo will be glad to get started."

Later that night, Vigo was not so happy. "What do you mean Zeal wants to come? The wild snow wastes are no place for her."

"I brought up the same points after everyone else left." Belthasar shrugged. "She seemed very intent on going."

"Why? I mean, there's really no reason."

"She's a very mysterious young lady. I'm sure she has her own motives."

"Oh well. Tell the men, and lady, to be ready at first light, down at the canoe storage. I don't look forward to spending two months out in the cold, but if we must, then I want to get it over with."

"Very well sire. Should I request that anyone else come with us?"

"No. I need everyone else to stay here and keep things in order. If that kid Dalton's parents are anything like him, we need supervison."

.

The first week of travel was fairly uneventful. After crossing the north strait past Enhasa, the going was fairly easy, especially on the clear day. The sun was bright and blinding on the snow, but the clouds came again soon enough.

At the start of the second week, there was a particularily bad blizzard. On the second day, it was so bad that no progress could be made. During the night, when Vigo was beginning to think that this might take longer than two months, he heard his tent flap opening. As he stoked the dying coals of the fire, he saw that Zeal stood in the entryway. She had several blankets wrapped around herself. Nevertheless, her skin had begun to take on a bluish tinge, and melting snow dripped off her hair.

She noticed Vigo's raised eyebrow. "Don't get your hopes up Vigo, but this is the kind of night where you just can't be alone, and I trust you more than those other guys."

"You flatter my humble soul with such praise." Vigo bowed low.

"Very funny. I wish Belthasar had been able to convince some of the more responsible explorers to come with us. These guys are immature adolescents in twenty year old bodies."

"We're no different. That's another thing about you that puzzles me, Zeal. Why do you always act like a celibate forty year old? You're younger than I am."

"I'd prefer not to discuss it." She stated coldly.

"Well, if that's the way you're going to be..." Vigo began to crawl back into his sleeping furs, leaving her to do what she would.

"Wait! I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude, but... Well, this last week has been really hard. That pack is so heavy, and the snow is so deep... I guess I thought that strong of spirit also meant strong of body, but..."

"Now you know it doesn't." Vigo finished for her. She finally walked forward to warm herself by the fire.

"No. I guess not." She winced as she sat down by the fire. "Ow. And my muscles are so stiff!"

"Here. Let me..." Vigo walked over to where she was sitting. He pulled the blankets she was wearing back, and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Wha?" She seemed to recoil at his touch, and glared up at him.

"Whoah, easy! I'm not going to burn you." Then he glanced around. "But those blankets are if you leave them so close to the fire."

"Sorry. I'm not used to... Oh wow." She closed her eyes for a while, appreciatively. Suddenly, she shivered. "Not quite as warm as the public fire in Trann cave is it?"

"No. It would be warmer if we slept back to back."

"Or front to front?" She asked, far too casually for Vigo's liking. Now she was being rude again. "Sorry sire." She pulled his hands off of her shoulders. "But my bag only has room for one. And its going to stay that way."

"Fine. Good night." Vigo said simply, somehow sensing he had offended her by not continuing to match wits in an innuendo contest. She must find something about him attractive, or else she wouldn't keep baiting him like this. He watched her for a long time after she fell asleep. She had a smile on her face. Vigo would have liked to think that he had caused that smile. In the dying light of the fire, Zeal's hair seemed to be a silvery blue. The shade suited her. Vigo sighed. There was a long day ahead of them tomorrow. He'd better get some rest.

.

Vigo woke up suddenly. He felt like he had been sleeping a long time. The fire was out. He could not see anything. "Oh no." He heard Zeal say softly from the front of the tent.

"What's wrong?" He asked, standing up. He winced as his head hit the roof beam. That was strange. Feeling around, he discovered that the support beams had been bent inwards by some force.

"We're completely snowed in." Zeal sighed. "It looks like we're fairly deep too. A whole lot must have fallen. It'll probably take us most of the day to dig out."

"And get buried again tonight? No, we have to get moving. Move to the rear of the tent."

"Why? What are you going to do?" But Vigo was already concentrating. As she backed away from him, she heard him whispering a few words. Suddenly, a bright light flared overhead. The support beams sprang back up, and grey light streamed into the tent opening.

"Now," Vigo said solemnly, "we have to keep going. We can't waste any more time. Our supplied won't last forever. You pack up here while I go get everyone organized."

"Its going to take a long time to free every tent from this snow." She told him.

"What snow? Take a look outside, Zeal." Looking at him strangely, she got up and looked out the entrance, then gasped in surprise.

"Oh my." Vigo couldn't help smirking. She didn't seem to notice as she turned to face him. "I didn't know you had that much power."

"That was easy." Vigo told a little fib.

"Hmmm. Well, I won't underestimate you again. I guess you better go get everyone organized." Vigo didn't say anything, but just smiled as he left the tent.

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"She is without peer in beauty and greatness." - Anonymous (and Vigo)


	4. Masa, Mune, and Doreen

**The Origin Of Mount Woe Chapter 4**

**Masa, Mune, and Doreen**

By Nanaki

12,020 B.C.

Vigo unwrapped the scarf from around his face as he reached the top of the ridge. Roaring against the wind, he called a halt. Most of the men dropped to a sitting position from where they stood, not caring about the wet snow. Belthasar struggled up the hill toward the king. Flapping in his hands were the tattered remains of their map. "Well Vigo, from what I can tell, we'll reach the location of the Sun stone by nightfall, if we keep moving."

"I certainly hope so, Belthasar. I am incredibly tired of snow and howling wind. I hope the Sun Stone can help us in those respects."

"As do I. To my best estimate, the location is eight miles northeast of here. We'll need to move fast."

Vigo roared into the wind again. "Okay men! We'll be moving out in ten minutes!" There were probably a few groans, but Vigo couldn't hear them. He looked at the grey sky, then the grey-white ground, surveying the men. "Something isn't right." He said quietly. No one had heard him. He quickly studied the scene. Belthasar was walking back toward the men, who were divided into four distinct groups. All the men were there.

Still Vigo couldn't shake his bad feeling. A few minutes later, he realized what it was. All the men were accounted for, yes. Zeal was not there. Vigo ran full tilt back down the hill. "What happened to Zeal?!" The men looked around, startled. Questions circulated around, and soon Vigo learned that no one had seen her for quite some time. "Okay then. I'm leaving Belthasar in charge while I look for her."

"Your majesty!" Belthasar interrupted. He had not called Vigo by his formal title in weeks. Vigo knew he would not like what Belthasar had to say. "I brought a chart of weather patterns from Gaspar when we left. They indicate that there should be a blizzard approaching this ridge early this evening. We'll get buried alive if we stay here!"

Vigo scowled. "It won't take long. I'll just teleport back the way we came at regular intervals until I spot her." He mumbled a few spell words. Absolutely nothing happened. Vigo took a deep breath, and yelled the words out as loud as he could.

"Uh, your majesty..."

"What now, Belthasar?" Vigo asked, finally sure that his magic wasn't going to work.

"All of our magic is being disrupted by the magical energy of the Sun Stone. It will be chancy at best, if it works at all."

Vigo furrowed his brow for a few minutes, deep in thought. Finally, he spoke. "You will all continue on to try to get to the Sun Stone. I will go back the way we came." This announcement was met by protests from nearly everyone. "This is a royal order." He growled. "I don't want to hear another word about it. Hopefully, I will see you all shortly. Goodbye." With that, Vigo turned and ran back the way they had come, following footprints that were already rapidly disappearing in the snow.

A few hours later, Vigo began to get hungry. He took off his pack and rooted around for some ration bars. His stomach sank when he realized that he had eaten all his food at breakfast, and had failed to refill his pack from the main supply carriers. He considered giving up for a few seconds, but he had given a royal order. They would move on, and he could not catch back up to them. Sighing, he sprinted down the trail.

Shortly after, on a particularily difficult section of ground, he found her. Her lips were blue, and her skin was a pale color, but she was still fairly warm. "Okay." Vigo breathed hard. "For your sake, I hope we're far enough away from the Sun Stone for magic to work." Vigo placed one hand on her forehead, and one hand on the sickly ground. He whispered a few words. Again, nothing happened. "Crud! Still too close!" Now he faced a difficult choice. Would he rather live without Zeal, or take the chance of either dying with her or getting her back? With a grim expression on his face, he picked Zeal up and began running farther back toward where they had come from.

Vigo tried a simple fire spell every few seconds, but they all refused to work. After about an hour more of travel, Vigo felt strangely refreshed. He realized it wouldn't last. He was very cold and tired. Plus, he hadn't eaten in a good while, and his lovely burden seemed to grow heavier by the minute. It was his body's final push. A little longer, and they would both be lying in the snow.

Suddenly, Vigo heard an odd roaring noise. Looking up, he tripped over a stone. He landed hard, Zeal rolling away from him. He tried to push himself up, but he just collapsed again. "Damn Sun Stone." He mumbled. "It was supposed to help us..." After trying to get up one more time, he collapsed fully, then fell asleep.

.

A short distance away, an odd looking piece of machinery came crashing to the ground. A few minutes later, three odd looking figures shakily emerged. The smallest remarked disappointedly, "This is defintely not home."

"Do either of you know what happened to us?" The largest asked.

"Not me. Do you have any clue, Masa?"

"Not much." Masa sighed. "I just recall that something really big brushed the rear of our ship. Then the emergency cryo sleep must have activated." He winced. "And judging from the stiffness, I'd say we were in there for a long time."

The largest one sighed again. "Then we're even further from our goal, unless something on this planet has developed time travel. By the looks of things, we're out of luck."

"Don't be so sure Doreen." Masa told her. "I've seen places worse looking than this harbor geniuses."

Then, the smallest, who had wandered off, yelled excitedly. "Masa! Doreen! Over here!"

"What is it Mune?" Masa asked as he ran.

"Look. I think they're still alive." Mune pointed to where two still figures were lying in the snow. "Maybe we should try to save them."

"Now, Mune." Doreen scolded. "You know we're only supposed to interact with the most intelligent creatures on a planet, by order of the scientific board of directors on Earth."

"Unless we find a time machine, we'll never see the scientific board of directors again. Besides, who says we have to interact? These two are both out cold, literally. Anyway, I think they are the most intelligent species. It looks like they walk on two legs. See, those front limbs are too short to be used for walking, and those look like hands in front. And see," Mune rolled Zeal over onto her back. "This one even has mammary glands, like our early ancestors, the humans."

"Fine, fine!" Doreen said, amused by her brother's enthusiastic argument. "But where do you suggest we take them?"

"That should be fairly obvious." Mune said in a superior tone. "Just look at this snow. You can see the direction they came from. We better take them back the other way."

"What makes you think that?" Masa asked him.

"Listen Masa, I may be small, but I am smart! I leave the fighting to you, so leave the calculations to me!" With that, Mune began to drag Zeal back toward their ship. Masa and Doreen picked Vigo up, and carried him inside.

Later that night, at their camp outside the cave he presumed the Sun Stone to be in, Belthasar faintly heard voices. "Should we make contact?"

"No. We need to survey the planet first. Get an idea of the geography, cities, energy sources, etc."

"No, don't dump them out there! The others may never find them. Bring them closer in. That's better. Now right here, they should- No! You idiot! How are they supposed to breathe lying face down in the snow? Notstrils in the back of their heads? Think Masa!"

Next, Belthasar thought he heard soft footsteps. Then, everyone in the camp was woken up by a deafening roar.

Rushing outside, the men found Vigo and Zeal, lying oddly in the snow. Even though the wind had lessened, the snow was blown all around, as if the wind had blown outward from a central point. Everyone would make guesses about what had happened. None but Belthasar would come close to the truth.

.

"Never assume that what you see and feel is real!" - Doreen


	5. The Sun Stone

**The Origin Of Mount Woe Chapter 5**

**The Sun Stone**

By Nanaki

12,020 B.C.

Zeal slowly opened her eyes. They seemed almost too tired to do this simple act. Despite her tired feeling, she felt that she had been asleep for a long time. As she forced her eyes open, she saw she was in a large, dimly lit tent. This couldn't be right. The last thing she remebered was falling down into the snow, exhausted, while the men were too far ahead of her to notice.

Then, her head was filled with odd sensations. A growing, bitter cold she couldn't stop. A sudden warmth on one side of her that seemed to defeat the cold for a while. Then, the cold returned, along with strange, alien voices. "What happened to me?" She asked out loud.

"Ah, Zeal. You're awake!" Belthasar ran over from where he must have been keeping watch on the other side of the tent. "You fell behind somewhere in the wastes, and we didn't notice until a few hours later. Vigo..." He laughed a little. "We couldn't stop Vigo from going after you. You see, the Sun stone was interfering with our magic, so he couldn't teleport. He actually ran down the trail after you. We began to worry when we realized he was out of food, and without shelter. Then... Then it gets weird."

"What?" She asked. Her throat felt dry. Belthasar handed her a mug of tea from the fire.

"Late last night, everyone heard this tremendous roaring sound. We all ran out to investigate. There was no real clue as to what made the sound, but we found you and Vigo lying in the snow."

"Vigo." She sighed. "He would have to be the one to save me."

Belthasar had an odd expression on his face. "He said something to the effect that if saving your life didn't soften you up, he'd find a way to reverse time and leave you there, since you couldn't be any colder."

Her face remained expressionless. "I guess Vigo isn't a bad guy, but I don't like to owe anything to anyone."

Belthasar just met her with a level gaze for a few moments. "Well, anyhow, he's just been waiting for you to wake up. We're just outside the Sun cave. If you feel ready, we'll go observe him try to deal with it."

"Hold on!" She was surprised. "I thought only the most powerful mage was supposed to attempt to use the Sun stone."

"Vigo is the most powerful." Belthasar said with conviction.

"Even more than you?" She was amazed.

"Definitely. That's why he's old Maro's apprentice."

"My father's apprentice? Where have I been this whole time?"

"Evading him. Now come on. He's going to get impatient before too much more time goes by."

Belthasar helped her to her feet and guided her the short distance through the blowing snow into the cave.

She paid no heed to the ranks of men who stood at attention in the corridor. She only saw a brightly glowing light at the end of the tunnel. She thought this must be symbolic of something, but it was hard to imagine what. Vigo acknoweldged her entry with a curt nod, then turned his attention to a brightly glowing stone. He started to speak softly, gradually growing louder. "Those who fear the night, and fight the coming of darkness, give us strength!" The stone glowed brightly in response.

"What? I'm not sure..." Vigo seemed to falter, holding his head. "I'm getting images... of some kind. Maybe I shouldn't..."

Zeal, with a worried look on her face, stepped forward. "Vigo, this will help our kingdom greatly. You know it will. You must take it!"

Hearing the words from Zeal, fire seemed to leap from Vigo's eyes, and she was a little afraid. But he just strode confidently up to the Sun stone, and took it in both hands. Suddenly, a blinding yellow flash erupted into the air. When she could see again, Zeal saw both the stone and Vigo were glowing brightly. Many of the men noticed that Zeal's hair had turned a shocking silvery blue shade.

"Oh! I never dreamed! So much power!" Then he turned. "Zeal, look at me now! Who in the kingdom could offer you as much as this? I have the greatest power on the planet. Share it with me! Be my queen and you can have this too!"

She found herself being drawn into his eyes. Maybe it was an illusion of the stone, but it really did look like there was fire on the inside. She found herself moving toward him, almost against her will. Staring into his eyes, the rest of the world seemed to dissolve away beneath her. She suddenly shook her head. "What am I doing?!" She shouted to herself. Then out loud she said, "Perhaps."

"YEEEEESSSSSSSS!!" Zeal realized that this was the first time she had not given him a definite no. Maybe that "perhaps" hadn't been such a good idea. But after seeing what she just had (what exactly had she seen?) she could not just say no.

Vigo raised the stone above his head with that triumphant shout. Suddenly, a beam of light shot up from the Sun stone, into the roof of the cave. "Vigo!" Belthasar shouted. "Stop! What are you doing?"

Belthasar was afraid Vigo would cause a cave in. But apparently, the stone was actually vaporising all the rock it smashed through. In a few minutes, Vigo stopped. There was a loud rumbling, and a huge boulder came hurtling down and smashed into the cave floor right in front of Vigo.

Vigo didn't notice all this. He was too busy waving the stone and chanting, "She didn't say no! She didn't say no!!" Zeal blushed. She was embarassed, but she couldn't help but be little flattered by Vigo's odd display, which the glowing stone was obviously affecting. She even smiled slightly. He must really be crazy about her.

Belthasar's eyes widened with amazement. He walked up to the boulder with slow, measured movements, as if anything sudden might scare it away. Which obviously wasn't the case when Vigo blundered into him in his little celebration. "Vigo, please!"

"She didn't say no-oooooo!!" Vigo danced the other way.

Belthasar bent over, his nose only a few inches from the boulder. He backed up several feet, then peered closely again. "My word." He finally whispered.

"You all heard her! There was no "no" in her reply!"

"Vigo!!" Belthasar lost his patience. Not daring to grab the Sun stone itself, he grabbed Vigo's wrists and held him still. "Do you realize what this is?" Belthasar jabbed his finger at the boulder.

"Huh? What?" Vigo just now noticed the boulder. "Whoah! What is that?"

"That, is several tons of nearly pure Dreamstone!"

"But, Dreamstone is extremely rare."

"Exactly! That's why this is so important."

Comprehension came to Vigo's face. "Man, what a great day! I got the Sun stone! Zeal didn't blow me off! I got tons of Dreamstone!" Suddenly, the Sun stone began flickering rapidly, then dimmed noticeably. Vigo collapsed.

.

It was Vigo's turn to wearily open his eyes. "Man, what the hell did I do this morning?" He asked the empty air. Belthasar's voice answered.

"You'd be very embarassed if I told you."

He sighed. "Then you better tell me."

"Well you practically admitted your undying love for Zeal-" Vigo groaned, "-when you did a ten minute long victory dance after she didn't blow you off. But!" He started an upnote before Vigo could say anything. "Using the Sun stone's power, you recovered several tons of Dreamstone."

"So I got the Sun stone?" Belthasar nodded. "And a lot of Dreamstone?"

He nodded again. "And maybe Zeal?" He nodded a little less surely.

"You'd better start packing up. We're getting ready to start our return journey."

"Our return journey?"

"Yes. Remember? How we're supposed to get back? The second month of our two month journey?"

"That may not be necessary."

"What? Are you sure you've recovered?"

"You said we have the Sun stone, right?"

"Definitely."

"Then it should no longer disrupt our magic, but augment it. Tell everyone to hold onto their hats." With that, he got up and strode out of the tent. Belthasar did not know what to make of Vigo's fairly cryptic remark, but a few minutes later, his world became a swirling mass of blue.

.

"It is the source of light that sustains all living things." - Anonymous


	6. An Early Homecoming

**The Origin Of Mount Woe Chapter 6**

**An Early Homecoming**

By Nanaki

12,020 B.C.

At first no one noticed anything after the swirling blue died away. Most of the men had assumed it was some odd side effect of the Sun stone. That is, until one of the younger explorers stepped outside his tent and noticed he was standing by the entrance to Trann cave.Within a few minutes, the entire complement of the exploration party and the citizens of Trann cave were mixing among each other, loudly demanding answers nobody seemed to have.

Finally, a weary looking Vigo stepped out of his tent. Everyone quieted down, waiting for him to say something, but he just stared over the water at Enhasa for a few minutes. Eventually, he turned around to address the crowd. "As you probably surmised by our early homecoming, we have recovered the Sun stone." He paused to wait for the cheering to die down. "However, this stone appears to be highly unpredictable in it's nature. I would like to meet with Maro, Melchior, Gaspar, Karak, and my advisors in one half hour." Then he turned back. "Sorry Belthasar, but I've seen enough of you in the past month to last a lifetime."

"I know what you mean." Belthasar cracked his knuckles. "Now I would like to get back to my warm cave, with it's large fire."

Vigo patted him on the back. "Thanks for snapping me out of it back there. Until we figure out what really makes the Sun stone tick, I think we ought to just not use it."

"It is unpredictable. Did you notice Zeal's hair?"

"What about it?"

"It turned an odd silvery blue color. I also noticed a few other women had hair a of a plainer blue shade, just in the past few minutes."

"Another odd effect of the Sun stone, no doubt. I wonder if this thing isn't going to be more trouble than its worth."

"Well you better go get ready for your meeting. I'll talk to you after I've spent several hours in my nice, warm cave."

.

As Vigo listened to his advisors argue, he wondered what good they really were anyway. Maro just smiled knowingly. Karak looked exceedingly bored. Finally, he spoke up. "Scuse me gents, but since I can't use magic, I don't know what all the fuss is about!"

"Well Karak," Vigo smiled, glad he had managed to shut the advisors up, "the Sun stone should provide a huge amount of magical power. But right now, we know next to nothing about how it works. I just know that I managed to recover several tons of Dreamstone and teleport us home. For some reason, that seemed to take much more energy than blasting through solid rock."

"Perhaps the Sun stone's energy is only taxed by living things." Maro suggested.

"In that case, we really could move mountains! In fact..."

"I have a feeling a major project is coming on." Melchior smiled.

Gaspar remained silent. Vigo looked questioningly at him, but then turned back the other way. "Maybe we could raise a mountain above the clouds..."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea." Karak frowned. "Wouldn't keeping the clouds at bay right here be easier, and less dangerous?"

"Perhaps. But it might use more energy to keep the sun shining than to move a mountain. It requires further research." Vigo frowned, deep in thought. "Gaspar, I would like you to find out which would be more cost effective. I tend to lean towards the mountain, because what good would the sun do us when we live in caves? The rest of you are dismissed."

Vigo pulled Gaspar aside after the others had left. "Is something bothering you? You seem awfully sullen lately."

"Its nothing, Vigo." Gaspar sighed. "I've just been having troubling premonitions. I don't think they have anything to do with your project though. My research team should finish fairly soon."

"So, are you really serious about moving a mountain?" Karak asked Vigo as Gaspar moved down the passageway.

"I don't see why not, if we have the power."

"So which mountain would it be?"

"I'm leaning toward Enhasa. It has that broad plateau on the east face."

"So, you're going to build a city on Enhasa, use a super powered stone to make it float, get Zeal to be your queen, and have a bunch of Dreamstone to fool around with?" Vigo smiled, realizing the grand scale of his plans. "You don't think small, do you?"

.

"Your majesty! Its too dangerous!" - Anonymous


	7. Skyward

**The Origin Of Mount Woe Chapter 7**

**Skyward**

By Nanaki

12,019 B.C.

"Are you sure you want to proceed with this Vigo? The research is far from complete."

"Yes, Maro. I'm sure the research will be easier with something to observe. I don't think we'll have any problems so large that we won't be able to correct them. I'm also very tired of waiting. I'm a rash, impatient young king."

Maro laughed a little. "Rash and impatient yes, but in your family, that doesn't disappear with old age."

"So you'll be there in the morning then?"

"Yes. Crazy as this is, it ought to be quite a sight."

Vigo sighed happily as he entered his chambers. There had been a year of planning scheduled originally, but after six months, he had grown so impatient that they were going to start tomorrow. It had become clear Zeal was going to wait until she saw the results of his project before she passed her final judgement on him. Maybe it was irresponsible to go ahead before the paperwork was complete, but there were too many things that Vigo would have a hard time waiting for. Like he had told Maro, he was an impatient young king.

.

Vigo hardly slept at all that night, and was up well before the appointed time. It wasn't snowing during the predawn hours, so Vigo went out walking. He surveyed Enhasa, then the small group of caves that made up Allegan. He smiled. Caves were all right when necessary, but people should not spend their whole lives cooped up where they couldn't see the sun.

.

Later in the morning, the entire population of Allegan emptied out of their caves. The crowd centered around the forms of Maro and Vigo, who were standing with quiet dignity. The Sun stone was lying on the ground in front of them, glowing brightly. The crowd built up until there was hardly a bare spot between the caves and the shore. Some people began to wonder what the hold-up was, until they realized that both Maro and Vigo had their eyes closed, and were concentrating deeply.

A good hour passed, and when most of the children were bored to tears, the two men leaned down and picked up the Sun stone. Then, multicolored bolts of energy slammed down into the base of Enhasa, producing a spectacular explosion that left everyone rubbing their eyes. No one noticed Melchior's construction team begin to move toward the landing site.

Slowly, a deep creaking sound was heard. Then, the sound of rocks breaking came from across the water. A thin crack of daylight appeared between Enhasa and what remained of the base. A few boulders rolled off the sides and made impressive splashes in the water. The citizens stared in awe as the huge mountain began to move toward them. When it was halfway to the landing sight, another huge explosion took place underneath. When everyone could see again, the mountain was nearly flat on the bottom. It then resumed it's slow drift to the shore.

Maro and Vigo gently guided it so the nearest face would be about one half mile from their location. Then, much more slowly, they set it down on the ground. The world rumbled for a little while, as if a small earthquake was happening. Then, the first part of Melchior's team teleported to the plateau to break ground. Maro and Vigo collapsed where they stood.

.

Vigo opened his eyes. He still felt tired, but he should probably get up. Opening the door of his chambers, he found Melchior waiting outside.

"I was hoping you'd be up soon. I have good news to report." Vigo just nodded sleepily. "Following the plans for the city Gaspar and I drew up, it should be ready to raise permanently in just six weeks."

"Six weeks! That's a pretty tight schedule."

"You should see how hard the men are working. It looks like nearly everyone is as excited about this as you are."

"Right now, I could use some more rest."

"Then take it. That must have been hard work yesterday."

"Yesterday?!"

"Yes sir. You've been out for quite a while."

"Obviously. Tell me, did Zeal look impressed yesterday?" He asked with a wry grin.

"That would be your main concern." Melchior sighed. "I didn't really pay attention, but from what I recall, she was just as enchanted as the rest of the crowd."

"Hmm. I just had a wicked idea. Tell her, that by royal order, she cannot see me for six weeks."

"Oh dear. Very well sire." Melchior sometimes silently wished that someone else could take over his job.

.

As Vigo awoke on E-day, he reflected on a very good omen. Melchior's team had finished the basic construction of the city of Enhasa the night before. Today was a clear day, so the sun was actually shining. He was surprised he had actually gotten to sleep the previous night. Today, well today would most likely go down in history. It would take an awful lot to erase this from public knowledge.

As he emerged into the daylight, the glare of the snow nearly blinded him. But off in the distance he saw the Sun stone was glowing brightly, fully charged. A sizeable crowd was already gathered. Vigo knew that he should wait until everyone was there, but they would wake up soon enough when he started.

He nodded silently nodded to Maro before speaking. "Everyone who wants to risk being on the mountain when it goes up, gather around the Sun stone." Vigo noticed that while most everyone had been enthusiastic about this project, only about a dozen were going to trust the mountain not to fall. But he didn't care, because Zeal was one of those dozen. Although he didn't know whether she was going with them for Maro, for him, or for both of them. As he teleported them to the plateau, he took in the odd architecture of Enhasa with appreciation. He also noticed his huge Dreamstone boulder had been tied down, in case the ride up was bumpy.

He didn't see why it would be. There were no clouds, and air currents wouldn't move a mountain. "Well there's no sense delaying." He turned to Maro. "Are you ready to start?"

"Yes, young majesty, let us start the preparations." The two men closed their eyes and concentrated deeply. The Sun stone glowed brightly in response. Suddenly, the mountain lurched. Both men lost their concentration.

"Whoah! I thought this was supposed to take an hour!" Vigo shouted.

"Apparently, that was only true the first time we lifted the mountain." Maro tried to find an explanation. "Well then, let us continue." They concentrated again. The Sun stone glowed more brightly than before. Since they couldn't see the bottom of the mountain, the people on top did not know exactly when they lifted off, but they soon saw the ground was becoming farther away.

Zeal shivered all of a sudden, as if a strong wind had blown up. She looked around, but there was only a slight breeze. Then, a shadow fell across the sun. Zeal looked up. A huge, dark cloud had appeared from nowhere. Clouds were quickly gathering from every direction. Lightning streaked out, and struck the top of the mountain.

Vigo cried out. "Gaah! Maro! Some force is pushing against us!"

"I do not understand!" The old man said through gritted teeth. "The Sun stone is at full power, and fully charged!"

"Well, then I guess we have no choise but to keep fighting!" Vigo and Maro kept up their magical flow, but now their faces made it look like they were lifting heavy weights, rather than just concentrating. The mountain began to shake. It tossed side to side more and more violently until Maro cried out and collapsed. The mountain began to sink back toward the ground. Then, it began to actually fall.

"We will break up in-" One of the men began.

"No!! We're breaking off!" Zeal shouted. She prepared to teleport everyone away.

"No!!" Everyone turned. The shout had come from Vigo, who had a pained look on his face.

"I've lived too long in the cold and the dark. I won't let this mountain fall." He looked at the sky. "You hear me, whoever you are?! I will not be defeated!!" Vigo grabbed the Sun stone, and the mountain suddenly surged upward again.

Everything was well until they approached the clouds again. Many lightning bolts streamed down into the mountain, and began to head down the slope toward the plateau. Vigo's expression grew more and more severe, until- "Aaaahh!! No!! I told you, we are going UP!!"

With that, lightning practically surrounded them. It lanced into the buildings of Enhasa, and would have arced into everyone on the mountain, if Vigo hadn't managed to set up a spell shield in time. But then, they were rising higher.

Zeal ran to the edge of the plateau in time to see the sun come out again. The sight of the clouds dropping away beneath them was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. As soon as the base of the mountain was clear, the clouds raced away. The sun sparkled off the ocean and the snow below. A new age had just started. Then, they stopped their ascent. She figured Vigo must have reached their desired cruising altitude. She was suddenly worried about him.He must have put out an extreme amount of effort.

Rushing back to where they had started, she saw Vigo was lying on the ground, not looking in especially good shape. Smoke drifted lazily up from the damaged portions of Enhasa. She wondered if he was damaged too. She ran up and knelt down beside him. "Vigo. C'mon Vigo, wake up. Are you all right?"

He wearily opened his eyelids. "Not exactly. Somebody didn't want us up here."

"True, but does that really matter now?"

"Huh? What are you trying to say Zeal?" He looked up expectantly.

"I..." Then, she was in his arms. He kissed her like he had been wanting to do for... for... Well, for an unbearably long time.

"Finally." He said simply. He looked Zeal in the eyes, glad that he could finally sit and appreciate her beauty without her getting mad. "But I have to ask, what brought this on?"

"Every... potential suitor," she dismissed them with a wave of her hand, "has promised me the world on a silver platter. You..." She paused to kiss him again. "You can actually give it to me."

.

"Never thought anything so big could fly, huh?" - Anonymous


	8. Descent

**The Origin Of Mount Woe Chapter 8**

**Descent**

By Nanaki

12,018 B.C.

Opening the door to the conference room, Vigo was surprised to see Karak was there already.

"Hey man, the sun isn't even up on the ground yet."

"Huh. I haven't been thinking about the ground lately. I'll have to go back sometime."

'You may get the chance sooner than you think.' Vigo thought to himself.

"Anyway, I hope you don't mind me being here early, but I didn't sleep well last night. Say, where's Zeal? Or should I say Queen Zeal?"

"Uh... The Queen... hasn't been feeling well in the mornings... lately..." Vigo gulped. Karak raised an eyebrow. "I'll tell you more later, if you're still willing to talk to me." Vigo was glad when Belthasar stepped in the door, flanked by two advisors.

"Good morning, your majesty. Gaspar should be here with the research in a moment. I regret to say, he would be here now if I had helped him, but I had a great idea last night."

"Oh? Tell, tell!"

"Well, I believe it may be possible to construct a vehicle that will fly. Not magically powered, mind you. I have been studying the wing designs of birds, and I think it would be possible to recreate the basic system, on a much larger scale."

"Where did you ever dream that up?" Vigo had never considered the possibility.

"I actually came up with the original idea a while back, the night we found you and Zeal lying in the snow outside of Sun camp. But then-" He was interrupted by the sound of Gaspar, Melchior, and dozens of advisors crowding their way into the counsel room, most with cheerful good mornings.

"Okay everyone, sorry to get you up so early, but this is rather important." Vigo waited for a minute, while all the advisors figured out that he had spoken, and eventually quieted down. "Gaspar, do you have the information?"

"I do, your majesty, and its not good." Disturbed murmers ran through the crowd. "We have been monitoring the energy levels of the Sun stone, and they are dangerously low."

"Why?" Karak was confused. "I thought the Sun stone could just absorb more energy from the sun."

"That is technically true, but only while it is not being used."

"So, to recharge, we would have to land Enhasa?" Vigo asked, worried.

"I'm afraid that is correct."

"If we land, we might not get back up again." Vigo frowned, remembering their harrowing ascent. "I'm afraid that is not a viable option."

"Well, if things continue the way they are, the Sun stone can only provide power for five more years." Melchior spoke up. "And if we use up every last drop of energy, it can basically never be recharged."

"However, we can improve the situation." Gaspar leaned forward.

"Well that's good." Karak was relieved. "What do we have to do?"

"Our readings seem to show that only living things drain the Sun stone of it's energy. So, up here, only the grass, the few animals, and we people use energy. Now, recent research suggests that only those people who can't use magic actually use the energy."

"How much longer would you have without them, er, us?" Karak asked, suddenly sensing himself the spokesman for the magic-less.

"Nearly one hundred years. That would safely give us time to find other energy sources."

"So what exactly does this mean?" Karak demanded.

Vigo sighed. "It means, Karak, that you're the new king of Allegan."

"Allegan? No way! You're not sending us all back to the ground!"

"Until we find alternate energy sources, I'm afraid so. All right, let it be known that everyone who can't use magic must return to the ground. Every woman who does not have blue hair must return, unless she can prove her magical skills. Every man must prove his magical skills, no blue hair dye will be accepted!" Almost everyone shared an uneasy chuckle.

"Man, I can't believe you're doing this to us." Karak growled.

"We have no choice." Vigo reminded him.

"Oh yes you do. Its just that you high and mighty enlightened people can't bear the thought of going back to the ground yourselves, so your just sending all of us back."

"Our going back to the ground would serve no purpose." Melchior tried to reason with him.

"Not to you people. But I've been scouting on my own often enough to know how hard it is to survive without magic."

"Then what would you suggest we do?" Vigo looked him in the eye.

Karak shook his head. "Just forget it. Fine, I'll tell everyone that we've been banished back to the ground, to live under the shadow of Enhasa." With that, he stormed out of the room.

"This won't be good for morale." Belthasar sighed.

"Not for them, no." Vigo frowned. "But for us, it will be." Belthasar gave him a questioning look. "I'm afraid we really have just been split into two kingdoms. Not worrying about the Sun stone will be a big plus for those staying here. Well, since we have no further business, this disastrous meeting is adjourned."

Vigo sighed as he entered his glowing chambers. He sat down heavily in his favorite chair, looking at the special Dreamstone dagger Melchior had forged for him. Whether Karak believed it or not, he really did feel bad about sending them back to the harsh surface world. But then, the door opened and Zeal walked in. Vigo could worry himself over a situation that couldn't be avoided later; this vision of pure beauty required all of his attention.

Zeal smiled as she saw Vigo's admiring gaze. It was nice to know he was still truly in love with her, even though right now her hair was disheveled, and she was still a little pale. "Well Vigo, I've just consulted with the medics."

Now he looked a little apprehensive. "Really? I was wondering where you'd gone."

"Aren't you the least bit interested in what they had to say?" She asked, looking demure.

Vigo rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, well, of course!" He said nervously.

"You know how I've been getting sick in the morning..." He nodded. "But I seem to have a bigger appetite then ever..." He nodded again, gulping. "And how I've been getting a little, er, fat..."

"Yeah..." Zeal smiled inwardly. This was really driving him crazy.

"Well Vigo..." She walked up and put her arms around his waist. "I'm pregnant."

"Oh." Vigo sank back down to his chair. "Oh my." He stared, dumbstruck, at the floor.

"What? Didn't you say that you wanted no other woman to have your children?"

"Yes! I just wasn't quite expecting... children... so soon." He was still staring at the floor.

"Why wait? Its not that there isn't enough to eat, or that its too cold even during the day, or that there wouldn't be time for a proper education. This isn't like Allegan, you know."

"No... It sure isn't." Zeal stared at his face. It was obvious that he had already been distracted from thoughts of the new life growing within her.

"All right, what exactly happened at your meeting this morning?"

"I had to give an order to send - how did Karak put it? - oh yes, the "unenlightened ones" back to Allegan, to conserve the Sun stone's energy."

"There was nothing else we could do?"

"No. Not in the short term anyway. We have to look for more energy sources while they're on the ground. But they won't be there forever. We just have to get them to understand that."

.

As Vigo had predicted, they did not understand. Nearly everyone put up a huge fuss. They acted like it was a death sentence, not an inconvenience. Finally, Vigo had to shout, "Look people! You can either let us teleport you down, or have the royal guard push you off the side, and hope atmospheric conditions are in your favor!"

Then, the crowd quieted down, and slowly people were teleported back to their old homes in Allegan. The work went quickly and efficiently, until only Karak was left. As he approached the edge of the plateau, Vigo was disturbed to see he was armed to the teeth. "What are you-?"He asked warily.

"Like I said, the surface world is a cruel place without magic, I want to be prepared. I also know that your word isn't going to mean bear turds down there, so I need to assert my authority."

"So you're okay with this?"

"Hell no!" Then he sighed. "But if you ever really need my help, I'll be here."

"Same here. You know I don't really want to send you all down there."

"Yeah, I guess not. Well, farewell, King Vigo."

"Farewell to you, King Karak."

.

Later that morning, Melchior was walking along the far edge of the plateau, trying unsuccessfully to monitor the progress of the people below. He was about to give up and go back to Enhasa, when he heard an odd roaring sound. Looking straight out instead of down, he saw a large projectile was about to crash into the mountain 100 feet below the plateau.

It closed the distance amazingly fast, pulling up at the last second. It carved a deep gouge in the grassy plain as it skidded to a stop. Melchior ran up, wondering what this thing could possibly be. Suddenly, a hatch opened in the side, and three figures stepped out. "What's going on? There wasn't any floating island the last time we were around this way!"

"We haven't been this way in a while." Another voice said. "I told you these guys were smart. So should we make contact now?"

"Yes, I defintely think so, because their lousy mountain damaged our ship!"

By this time, Melchior had made it to where the ship had skidded to a stop. "Greetings. I am Melchior, head Blacksmith of the kingdom of Enhasa."

"Looks like we don't have to make contact after all Masa." One of the figures giggled.

.

"What strange visitors! Welcome to Zeal!" - Anonymous


	9. Life and Death

**The Origin Of Mount Woe Chapter 9**

**Life And Death**

By Nanaki

12,018 B.C.

"Crud, crud, crud." Vigo paced around the room, eyeing the workers. "Why aren't you guys done yet?! The extra bedroom is nowhere near complete, and this place is definitely not childproof!" He yelled, looking at an empty shelf, low to the floor, where someone had placed his Dreamstone dagger.

"What's with him?" One of the workers asked.

"He's about to be a new dad."

"Oh, that's right! The heir of Enhasa is expected today."

"This room should have been done yesterday!" Vigo ranted. Then he glanced outside. "Crud! Look how late it is! Zeal's probably in the maternity room already!" He turned around. "Its late. I have to go. Well, maybe I should supervise... No! I have to go!" He strode toward the door. "Can I trust you guys to finish while I'm gone?" The workers just waved him out the door.

"You know what this means?" The head worker asked.

"Two hour lunch?" Another said hopefully.

"You got it."

.

Vigo practically ran down the golden halls. Everyone knew better than to get in his way. He opened the doors to the medical section and rushed inside. Zeal was lying in bed, surrounded by medics. She was sweating, her hair sticking to the side of her head. Suddenly, she looked up.

"Well, its about time you got here!"

"There were, um, a few details." Vigo stammered.

"I'll give you details." She threatened, then gritted her teeth as another contraction overtook her. "You see Vigo..." she gasped, "this is... one of the... best reasons... for staying celibate!" Then she sank back onto the pillow.

"Its probably going to be a while yet." One of the medics leaned over to Vigo.

"Thats fine. I'm staying." He said adamantly.

"You sure are staying!" Zeal said emphatically. "After doing this to me, you have to stay and listen to me rant at you!" Vigo was worried, until he saw a slight smile form at the corners of her mouth. She was kidding him, at least for now.

.

Several hours later, it was a different scene. Vigo sat, wringing his hands, as the contractions grew stronger. "Vigo!... You are never... touching me... again!!"

Vigo leaned over and asked one of the medics about to come on duty, "They all say that at this point, right?" The medic answered him the only way a sensible man could.

"Okay," the head medic called. "I think its time to start pushing." Vigo jumped up and ran to the bedside. "We'll go in sets of ten, all right?" Zeal nodded, her eyes closed. "Okay, ready... 10! 9! 8!-" He didn't get any farther for the moment. The golden light in the room dimmed to a low brown.

"What in the-?" Vigo wondered. Everything was still for a moment. Then the golden light returned.

"That was a mean trick." Zeal complained.

"I assure you, none of us had anything to do with it." Vigo patted her arm.

"Some odd power fluctuation, no doubt." The head medic said. "Let's try again now. Ready? Now, 10! 9!" The light went out completely this time, until only three thin beams of sunlight lit the room.

"Wha?" Zeal gasped.

"8! Just ignore it if its gonna keep happening! 7! 6!" Suddenly, one of the assistants was surrounded by a purple glow and hurled across the room.

"I think we better stop." Vigo sighed. Zeal relaxed. The lights came back on.

"I don't want to stop!" Zeal cried. "I want this kid out!"

"Well I don't think it wants out." Nearly everyone in the room looked at him. "Look, isn't it a bit odd that the lights only go out when we start pushing? Isn't it especially odd that one of you was just hurled across the room?"

"Okay then." Zeal sighed. "This time, I won't stop for anything. Start the countdown again, and everyone brace for a rough ride!" They did, and the lights went out immediately. But it wasn't until Vigo felt a jolt under his feet that he became alarmed. He looked out the narrow window slits, and sure enough, they were moving down.

"Oh no." Vigo groaned.

"Now what?!" Zeal demanded, sinking back into the bed.

"This kid is drawing power from the Sun stone. A lot of power. I have to go stop it!"

"You can't just leave me here like this!" Zeal cried, a terrified look in her eyes.

It made Vigo glad to know that she needed him. "I won't leave you. I promise. You know I wouldn't miss this for the world!" Then, he snapped his fingers, and she froze in place.

"Huh?" The head medic exclaimed. "What did you do?"

"I merely suspended the temporal flow around her. Trouble is, it'll only last about fifteen minutes, so I better hurry. If she starts moving, don't hesitate to teleport me back here." With that, Vigo ran out of the room. He reflected on his temporal suspension. So far, neither he nor Maro had been able to make it last very long. Although, Gaspar was working on something..."

With a start, he realized he was at the "Sun keep" already. He then realized he was out of breath. He must have ran pretty fast. He gripped the Sun stone, noticing that it looked dimmer than usual, and cast every magical barrier he knew how. "There kid, let's see you break through that." Then he chuckled slightly to himself. "Who says dads don't help deliver the baby?" With that amusing observation, he turned and sprinted back the way he had come.

Some of the advisors tried to stop him in the hall. "No time. No time. No time." He dismissed each one. "No... hello!" He stopped short. Karak was standing in front of him. "What are you doing here? How did you get here?" He secretly hoped Karak had just come to congratulate him. But judging by the look on his face, it was something serious. Then he realized there was no way the earthbound people could have known.

"I set a large signal fire, and someone up here teleported me. But that's not important. What is important is the fact that we need your help."

"Then you have it of course, but I have to-"

"No Vigo. Now. We just had a huge earthquake down on the ground. Most of our caves collapsed. We lost a lot of people, and the survivors are out in the cold."

"That's awful! But it will have to wait just a few hours."

"It'll be dark in a few hours. Without magic, we're going to freeze! What could possibly be more important than peoples' lives?!"

Vigo thought about stopping for a moment. But he realized his time was nearly up. "Look, I really don't think its possible for me to leave right now."

Suddenly, he was interrupted by a panicked shout, "Where did he go?!" Vigo felt himself begin to teleport. But he knew that Karak would find him fairly soon, and they couldn't have an argument in Zeal's room. He forced himself to stay there.

Then, he realized what was more important than peoples' lives. A new life, one he had helped to create. "Make that, I know I can't leave right now."

"I was hoping it wouldn't come to this." Vigo heard the unmistakable sound of a sword being drawn. He suddenly wished he had brought his Dreamstone dagger with him. "But I came prepared. Now get your emergency relief force in gear!"

"Not now!" Vigo shouted. He tried to force his way past Karak. He found himself being propelled roughly backward into the wall. He quickly jumped up and tried to hit Karak in the face, and found himself slashed by the sword instead. He gripped his bleeding shoulder and backed away. In the distance, he thought he heard Zeal shouting again.

"Look Vigo, I'm sorry I had to do that, but-"

"Aaaaahh!!" Vigo thrust his arms forward, and fire flew from his hands. Karak backed away, and a chunk of the ceiling suddenly fell, pinning him to the floor. Vigo then teleported him back to the ground. He ran back to the maternity room as fast as he could.

Vigo had expected a stern tongue lashing from Zeal, but she didn't seem angry. "Oh, thank goodness you're back!" She said, with only relief coloring her voice. Vigo thought she looked exhausted. The head medic noticed Vigo's bleeding shoulder.

"Your majesty! What happened to you anyway? We'd better attend to that shoulder!" He started signaling to his assistants.

"No time!" Vigo rushed forward. He leaned down to Zeal. "You've suffered more than enough today. Its time to end this." He signaled to the medic. "Start the countdown again." The medic obeyed, eyeing Vigo's shoulder. Vigo went back to wringing his hands, now oblivious to the blood flow.

This time, they got down to five before something happened. Nothing outside was noticeable, but Zeal cried out, suddenly in much greater pain than she had been. "Now what's happening?" She wailed. "Vigo, I thought you cut off this kid's power supply."

"I did." Vigo frowned. "But it absorbed an awful lot of the Sun stone's energy in the process."

"Its going to fry my insides if we try to force it out." Zeal wailed.

"In fact, either way, we're both going to die..."

"Don't even suggest such a thing!" Vigo commanded.

"Why not? Look at the facts. That kid is loaded with raw, explosive energy, and right now, I'm it's enemy." She paused, seeming to stare at nothing. "Vigo, I don't want to die."

"You're not going to die." He said in a steely voice. "Okay, listen up! Nobody is going to die! Not a single soul!" Vigo paused as he remembered Karak's news about the earthquake. Then he continued in a softer voice. "Zeal, I can't live without you. If you die, I die too. And right now, I have a very strong desire to live."

"So what are you going to do?" Zeal asked, a little calmer.

Vigo thought. "We can't force it out. That's obvious. We have to convince the kid to come out."

"..." Zeal opened her mouth, but no sound came out. "How are you going... to do that?" She finally questioned.

"I don't know, but I'm about to try." Vigo stepped up and put his hands on Zeal's belly. A soft purple glow seemed to radiate out from them. To the medics, he seemed to go into a deep trance, until several minutes later, he spoke. "She's extremely scared."

"She?" Zeal asked, a delighted look finally lighting up her face. "I mean, she told you this?"

"Not exactly." Vigo replied, his eyes still closed. "She doesn't communicate with words. Its just sort of a feeling. She doesn't know what we know. To her, it seems like she's dying, and she's very afraid."

Vigo said nothing else. The glow coming from his hands changed to a warm yellow. Vigo concentrated on thoughts of life and welcome, omitting all the odd events that had happened that day, including the things the infant herself had caused.

Everyone else in the room waited as the minutes ticked slowly, and painfully by for Zeal. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, but was probably about ten minutes, Vigo opened his eyes. He noticed the blood from his shoulder had mixed with Zeal's blood on the bed sheets. Something like that had to be symbolic of something. He turned around and staggered as dizziness overtook him for a second. How much blood had he lost? The medics began to rush forward again. He held out his hand, holding his spinning head at the same time. "In a minute. Right now... Now, it is time to start pushing."

"Vigo, are you sure?" Zeal looked up at him with a pleading expression on her face.

"I'm sure." Vigo smiled down at her. "Very sure." He kneeled by the bed and took her hand in his. The head medic stepped up to the bed again.

"Okay, we're ready to go again. Just prepare to be surprised." The medic started the countdown. Finally, nothing happened to stop it, though toward the end, Zeal began to wish something would.

"Vigo!" She gasped when finished with another set.

"Yes?" He asked, totally responsive.

"Let's not do this again, okay?"

"I don't think things will be quite this hectic next time." Seeing the look on her face when he mentioned "next time", Vigo just said, "We'll discuss it later."

"Okay people!" The head medic beckoned to his assistants. "I think this will be it. One more set Queen Zeal." She gritted her teeth, and pushed again. Finally, with two more counts to go, the cause of all the trouble entered the world. The medics rushed forward, cleaning up the infant.

"Wait!" Vigo shouted. "Don't bundle her arms up!" The medics looked up, startled. "Look at her hands." He pointed. The baby's arms were glowing an odd shade of purple. "Just a minute." Vigo walked over and picked her up, careful to support her neck. "Okay sweetheart. You've got to get rid of that energy." She obviously didn't understand. Frustrated, the infant began to cry.

Vigo put his head up to her still soft skull. Suddenly, the infant weakly raised her arms. The wall behind Zeal was leveled in a blinding flash of light. Sunlight filled the room. "Okay, now you can bundle her up."

Vigo sat down on the bed next to Zeal. Half of the medics rushed over and began working furiously on his shoulder. Soon, it was bandaged up, and the other medics brought the infant over to Zeal. "I don't recall ever hearing about a baby ever causing this much trouble." Zeal said, exhausted.

"She is... unique." Vigo paused. "So, what are we going to call her?" Zeal said nothing, she just looked at the infant. After a few minutes, the baby's eyelids fluttered open, and she babbled something incoherently. "What? What was that?"

"I just pulled your little telepathy trick. She has a definite sound for herself. It sounds like...Schala."

"Schala? That's kind of pretty." They looked at each other.

"Schala it is!" Zeal smiled. "Oh, she is beautiful, isn't she?" Vigo nodded, a large smile on his face. "Oh Vigo, I'm so tired."

"Then rest. I'm sure she'll still be here when you wake up."

A half hour later, Vigo sighed. The fading light cast gentle shadows across Zeal and Schala, who were both asleep. "You two have good night." He smiled. Then the smile vanished abruptly. "Because I'm probably going to have a very bad one." Vigo got up and silently walked out the door. He walked back to his chambers. He was surprised to find Maro waiting inside.

"Vigo! What are you doing back already? Is Zeal-"

Vigo dismissed the questions with a wave of his arm. "Zeal is fine, despite the efforts of our child. I would love to talk about this right now, but I'm afraid I have to leave."

"But... why? She's only just been born!"

"Yes... I know. But there was a large earthquake on the ground earlier today. The Earthbound ones need our help."

"But we didn't... No. Of course we wouldn't sense anything."

"I'm going to lead the relief forces. I just stopped in here to get my dagger. Tell everyone who stays behind to take the best possible care of Zeal that they can. I'm going to get Belthasar and the explorers, so we should be on our way within the hour." Maro nodded agreement.

A little over an hour later, Vigo found himself shivering, the shadow of Enhasa making the night sky even darker. Surveying the landscape, he saw many of the cave entrances had collapsed. The forty men behind him shook their heads sadly.

"So this is what's become of our former home, eh?" Belthasar sighed. The Earthbound ones came rushing up to Vigo's team, first eyeing them warily, then gladly accepting the help they provided.

As the rest of the team was busy erecting temporary shelters, Karak approached Vigo. "Man, what exactly happened up there today? What was your problem?!"

"I couldn't leave. Zeal had our baby today."

"Well, congratulations, I guess. But you could have left. It was an emergency! We needed you more than she did!"

"No. She would have died. Then I would have too..."

"What?! Why?!"

"I don't feel like explaining at the moment. Suffice to say, I couldn't do two things at once."

"Well, a lot of people did die down here."

"I'm sorry, but look, I just told you-"

Karak seemed to snap. "That is no damn excuse!!" He whipped his sword out of it's sheath and slashed upward in a precise arc. Vigo jumped back, drawing his dagger as he did so. Karak ran forward, but Vigo brought up his dagger to meet the sword. He was nearly knocked off his feet, but he managed to stay upright. Karak swung his sword down again in a huge slice which Vigo barely parried.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash, and Karak fell face first into the snow. Two of Vigo's men ran up. "Your Majesty! Are you all right?!"

Vigo just stared down at Karak. "Why did you do that?"

"Huh? He was trying to kill you!"

"I wanted it to be a fair fight. Now... Well, never mind. Continue with the work." Vigo stared silently out into the dark night. It would be a while before he could go home.

.

"Quick! Use the Red Knife!" - Nadia


	10. Trouble in Paradise

**The Origin Of Mount Woe Chapter 10**

**Trouble In Paradise**

By Nanaki

12,015 B.C.

Vigo woke with a start. As lightning flashed through the window, he saw that some unusually high clouds were causing a storm outside. Zeal stirred restlessly next to him. Suddenly, in the strobe like flashing of the lightning, he saw his bedroom door opening. Vigo was relieved to see Schala tiptoe in the door, looking frightened. Then he was surprised to see her go on into the next room. Rather than stop her, he decided to see just what she was up to.

"Can't sleep-" then there was a crack of thunder, "-the black wind." Now Vigo was puzzled. What was she talking about? His eyes grew wide as she rummaged through his drawers and came up with the key to the Sun keep. She tiptoed back out of the room and closed the door. Vigo followed her back into the hall a moment later, but there was no sign of Schala. She must have teleported. He had never seen his daughter act like this.

He teleported to the Sun keep. He hid behind one of the pillars as Schala entered the building. At least she had not been able to break his magical barriers. But his smile vanished as she walked up to the Sun stone. Since she could not lift it, she put her arms around it, and a frustrated look came over her face. "He still doesn't trust me! Even with the black wind! Well, fine daddy..." Suddenly, the room was filled with bright colors, and Vigo realized Schala had just destroyed every barrier he had put on the Sun stone the day she was born.

Then she closed her eyes, and Vigo was blinded by a huge purple flash. A second later, stars appeared outside the windows. Schala silently left the Sun keep. Vigo was puzzled. Schala was only three years old, but she had just done something that no one but himself or Maro should have been able to do. If she was this powerful now...

She had been babbling something about "black wind" during the storm, but even with the lightning, it had been surprisingly still. He shook his head. His daughter was as mysterious as her mother, and if tonight was any indication, even more magically powerful. He walked back to his room, pausing occasionally to check the weather. There was no sign of the storm; Schala had done a god job.

When he arrived back at his chambers, he found the key right back where it always was. He would have to find out how Schala knew the location. Zeal was awake in bed when he finally returned. "Where have you been? There was this huge purple flash... It seemed like a battle was starting."

"No, well, not really. But Schala just used the Sun stone to get rid of our storm."

"What?! With all the barriers you put on that thing? She's only three!"

"I know." Zeal was speechless. Vigo smiled. He bent down and kissed the nape of her neck. "Schala is such a gifted child." Zeal smiled. "It seems a shame not to have any more." Her smile vanished.

"Please don't ask me to go through that again Vigo. Schala is wonderful, but that... that was hell."

"I know it was. But things would be different this time."

"Still, I can't. I'm sorry Vigo."

.

"Karak! Karak, wake up!"

"Huh?" Karak bolted upright in his bed. One of his warriors was standing inside the entrance to his cave. "What's wrong?"

"Some kind of large beasts are invading our caves!"

Karak grabbed his sword. "We just finished this excuse for a new home! I'm not gonna let some monster take it away!" He rushed out of his cave and started running upward.

"Wait a minute sir!" Karak turned around. "You're going the wrong way!"

"What? But the entrance is-"

"That's the strangest part. They didn't come through the entrance! They appeared right in the heart of our lower chambers!" Karak just shook his head and ran the opposite way. Many frightened people were rushing past him. He ran down to the bottom of the cave system, the best part of their new home. He found several men lying on the ground, blood radiating out from them.

Three yellow beasts were sniffing around, pawing up the dirt and knocking over furniture.

"Hey!" Karak shouted at them. They turned and reared up on their hind legs. Karak rushed at them with his sword before they could charge. He jumped into their midst, slashing all around.

He was tossed around by a set of horns, and landed hard, but fortunately, he wasn't gored. In a few seconds, only one of the beasts remained standing.

Suddenly, two larger beasts charged into the scene. One was a bright red, the other, a cold blue. They trampled down everything in their way. Karak turned and ran back out of the area.

.

Vigo woke up for the second time that night. He quietly got out of bed and left the room. He heard a commotion down the hall. "Sir, I'm sorry, but the King cannot be disturbed now!"Vigo walked down to where one of his men was arguing with someone.

"Its all right. I'm up." Then he looked up. "Karak?! What is it now?"

"There are some freaky monsters running amok down in, well, we can't really call it Allegan anymore. Anyway, these beasts are running us out of... this Algetty. They've already waylaid some of my best men."

"Did they take over the whole cave?"

"No, just the best part."

"Then I'm afraid I can't help you. You're the one who always scoffed at soft living, remember?"

"But..."

"You've still got a place to live. There's no need to mount a war against these things."

Karak was about to say something else, but shut his mouth as a little girl with silvery blue hair came down the hall. "What's going on daddy? Why are you up again?"

"Its just a restless night honey, go on back to bed."

"Who's this guy?"

"Don't mind that now. I see your mother down the hall. Go wait with her." Schala obedientely ran back to where Zeal was opening her door. She looked at Schala with questioning eyes.

"Daddy says its a rustle night." She said, as if that explained everything. Zeal just sighed and closed the door.

Karak made an odd sounding noise. "Hey man, I've got a life to live here now. I'm not gonna risk losing it so you can have a slightly warmer cave."

"Huh. Well, congratulations. I won't bother to try and get you to keep your word again."

"You don't need our help! If you really can't stand these animals, dig another cave. Now, I've got a family to get back to. One of my guards will send you back down." He turned around, and left Karak standing there. He heard a whooshing sound behind him, and Karak was gone from sight. Vigo sighed. Life might be more comfortable up here, but sometimes he missed the simplicity of Allegan.

.

"You feel it too? Don't worry, it'll be all right." - Schala


	11. Premonitions

**The Origin Of Mount Woe Chapter 11**

**Premonitions**

By Nanaki

12,011 B.C.

Schala woke up suddenly. Tomorrow was her seventh birthday, but she didn't think she was excited enough to be waking up in the middle of the night. Then, the room was filled with a round, warping, blue opening. Five people tumbled out. There were a lot of grumblings and confused exclamations.

"Okay, everyone quiet down!" One of them shouted. Schala ducked lower under her covers. Now that her eyes had readjusted to the dark, she could take in who they were. First, there was a man with spiky red hair. He had a long scar down his left cheek, but he still looked youthful. Beside him stood a lady with golden blonde hair, wearing fine but casual clothes. Between them stood a child not much younger than herself. He had blonde hair too, but it was spiky like the man's.

And they were the normal ones. Looking to the the left, she saw a man wearing a green cape, holding a rather large Dreamstone sword. He bore an uncanny resemblence to her father, but she was pretty sure it wasn't him. Last, there was a person that convinced her she was dreaming. He was a tall man with long, blue hair. That was impossible. No male could have blue hair. He was the one who had shouted.

"Just what is going one here?" The lady demanded. "Crono and I were just sitting at dinner, when this gate comes out of nowhere. How did you guys create a gate anyway?"

"I think I have as much of an explanation as is possible." The blue haired man said. "Glenn and I were trying to... No, that's not important. But I didn't use a gate, I activated a Chrono Trigger that Gaspar... that Gaspar gave me."

"Speaking of Gaspar..." The man with the sword started. "How were five of use transported through one gate?"

Suddenly, the blue haired man glanced around. He stared right at Schala. "Hold it. All of you. I know where we are. This is Schala's room, before I was born."

"Schala??" There was a simlutaneous exclamation from everyone but the young boy.

"H-how do you know who I am?" Schala asked meekly. But only the blue haired man seemed to hear her. The rest kept talking.

"Does that mean we made it back to Zeal?" The man with the red hair asked.

"No, I think this is something else entirely."

"What do you mean? Where are we then?" The lady asked.

"Guys, I don't know. I was only six when I got sucked away from here, remember?" Suddenly, another blue portal opened. Out tumbled a lady with long purple hair, a large mass of machinery that seemed to be alive, and two adults and another kid who were all dressed in animal skins. They all immediatly began asking questions. "Okay, quiet! I don't know what is happening here. All I know is that a malfunctioning Chrono Trigger caused it, and now the resulting gates are operating without control and dragging us around in groups of five."

Schala tried hard not to be seen. She didn't know what he was talking about, but he was speaking in a tone that usually meant kids were in trouble if they heard. The man with blue hair wheeled around again. "Hey, now you're all scaring her. I wonder..." He thought for a moment.

"Okay, I'm going to send you all on your way. Crono, I would appreciate it if you had a nice long chat with Gaspar." With that, he raised his right hand, and the portal reopened. Everyone except for him was dragged back inside.

"Don't be afraid of me Schala." He said in a gentle voice. Then he frowned. "But you are, aren't you? Very well, just remember, be strong, and watch out for Dalton!" With that, he disappeared too. The blue glow faded from her room completely. Schala was relieved. As her eyes readjusted to the dark, she couldn't tell whether she had just been dreaming or not. She was still tired, so she just turned back over and went to sleep.

.

Suddenly, she was dreaming. She was sure of it this time, but the dream was unusually vivid. Also, she seemed to be coming into the middle of something. Two people were running away. Looking out, Schala saw a younger version of the blue haired man and a humanoid frog standing far out on a cape over the ocean. The frog was holding the Dreamstone sword she had just seen.

"...just like that fool, Crono."

"Magus! You dare to insult him?!"

"He's history! Play with fire and you get burned!"

"Magus, hold thy tongue!" A howling wind began to blow up. The blue haired man tugged on his glove.

"Eh? You want to fight me?" The blue haired man seemed different. Schala sensed that he had just lost something very important to him, and not for the first time. Also, his aura was full of hate, and had been for a long time. It had affected his outward form.

"Yes!" The frog rushed at the blue haired man. He fought with an intensity she had never seen before. Magic spells and weapons both flashed across the cape. Finally, the blue haired man collapsed. The frog raised his sword again. "Cyrus! I will avenge thee!"

"No!!" Schala yelled. She didn't think the frog had heard her, but he stopped mid stride.

The blue haired man panted. "If you want to bring Crono back... find Gaspar, the Guru of time..." He collapsed on the cape. The frog sheathed his sword and left him there. Gaspar again! What did that old geezer have to do with all this? Then the scene seemed to shift again.

.

Now Schala saw a dark room, lit only by two low, blue flames. A strange chanting could be heard. "Neuga, ziena, zieber, zom. Now the chosen time has come... Exchange this world for..."

Three people were standing there, but they weren't the ones doing the chanting. She saw it was the red haired man again, but he didn't have his scar. Behind him was the golden haired lady, and behind her... ..the frog again! Next, all three of them ran forward. More flames ignited as they ran. Finally, two large, orange flames ignited in the palms of two hands on a very strange statue. In front of the statue was the blue haired man, yet again! He stopped his chanting.

"Magus!!" The frog shouted.

"I...Its that annoying frog! Kissed any princesses lately?" The blue haired man did not face them.

"Actually, I rather enjoy this form! And I oweth it all to you!" He unsheathed the Dreamstone sword again. "I have something for you!"

"So, you got the Masamune! I bet you're just dying to use it!" Now he finally turned to face them. "Okay, give me your best shot... If you're ready for the void!" If anything, the frog fought with more intensity than before. The red haired man and the lady weren't too shabby either.

But it was obvious the blue haired man's, what had the frog called him? Yes, Magus's spells were taking a toll on them. A huge black triangle with a smaller white one inside sent all three of them to the ground. But the frog struggled up one last time and charged at Magus with the Masamune. Both of them collapsed. "Wha... What have you done to the Masamune?" Magus gasped. Suddenly, the statue seemed to ripple. "What? No! Bad timing! Don't wake up on me now!"

"Wake up?!" The lady demanded. "YOU'RE the one who CREATED him!"

"You fools! I didn't create him. I only summoned him! He has slept in our planet since the dawn of time, growing ever stronger." The room started to warp some more. "You fools! If you hadn't disturbed me..."

Suddenly the lady cried. "Look! The gate!" The three people who had challenged Magus began to be spun around the room, but Magus himself held onto the statue with a vengeance. A blue portal opened in the middle of the room. It grew to a huge size, and horrible sound filled the room. Before Schala could think about what had happened, her mind flung her to another different place.

.

Now Schala saw five people and an odd, sinister looking machine. She only recognized her mother as one of the five people, although the young woman who stood below her bore a resemblance to herself. One of the three men there cried out. "This power is beyond human control!"

Suddenly, the machine disappeared and in it's place was a huge, horrible monster. A black portal opened up. "What is this?" Another of the men asked. Suddenly, all three of the men were sucked into black portals. Queen Zeal was indifferent to this, while the young woman looked sick. Suddenly, a young boy and a purple cat ran toward the unearthly scene.

He seemed to hesitate when he saw the monster, but then he pressed on. "Schala!!" Huh? Was the young woman her? What was going on here?

"No Janus! Stay away! Its too dangerous!" The young man kept running forward, with a scornful look at Queen Zeal. Suddenly, a black portal opened underneath his feet.

"Schaaalaaaaaa!!" Then, he was gone.

"Janus!!"

Now Schala saw a black portal open in the middle of a forest clearing. The boy tumbled out, glancing around nervously. A huge green monster ran out of the clearing, signaling to his soldiers to follow. "A human! Get it!" He shouted.

The boy backed up defensively. "Don't mess with me! I've had a day you wouldn't believe."

"No human can escape the great Ozzie!" His soldiers stepped menacingly forward.

"I'm warning you..." The boy backed away some more. He appeared confident, but Schala saw that inwardly he doubted himself. Suddenly, Ozzie's blue soldiers rushed forward. Janus raised his hands, and a searing wall of fire expanded out from him, roasting them all but Ozzie.

"Say kid, you're not bad." Ozzie coughed. He seemed oblivious to the death of his men. "I never met a human that could use magic." He eyed Janus' blue hair. "Are you a human?"

"Not the kind you're used to, I'm sure." Janus replied scornfully.

"Hmmm. Tell you what: If you help me wage war against other humans, I won't kill you."

Janus fought a brief internal conflict. Help this fiend fight other humans? But, if they couldn't use magic, then they were not really humans, but earthbound ones. "Its a deal." He forced a smile. Ozzie laughed a deep, hearty laugh. The scene blacked out. What is going on here? Schala asked herself. Who wants me to see all this? And what do I have to do with it?

.

Now Schala found herself in a place where there was no sound. In the distance she saw her mother, and a large man she only vaguely remembered. Karak was his name. Zeal looked extremely angry at Karak. She yelled something. He suddenly backed away, pleading with her.But she raised her hands and cast a spell Schala had never seen her mother use before. When Schala could see again, Karak had vanished. Then, incredibly, it looked like Zeal was about to use the same spell on herself. She placed her hands on her midsection, and they began to glow.But she changed her mind at the last minute, and bowed her head.

.

Her vision had faded out again. There was still no sound, but now Schala saw her father, who looked to be about as badly injured as someone could get and still be alive. He was staggering toward the edge of a cliff, the Sun stone in his hands. She saw Enhasa drifting away from the edge of the cliff. Were they crashing? But then the view turned around, and she saw Enhasa behind her. The city of Enhasa had broken off of the mountain of Enhasa. Her views were changing more rapidly now.

.

Now she saw Vigo and her mother, both looking healthy and at peace, although her mother looked frustrated. Three huge boulders were in front of them. Zeal concentrated, and a bolt of energy cracked one of the boulders down the middle. Vigo shook his head, smiling at the same time. He raised one finger, and a huge explosion turned all three boulders to dust.

.

Schala finally woke up. The sun was streaming into her bedroom window. The morning was still. She did not feel rested, but decided to get up anyway. Suddenly, there was a bright flash from the courtyard. Running outside, she saw her mother and father standing in front of three large boulders. One was cracked down the middle.

"Why is this so hard Vigo? I can teleport so easily!" Zeal complained.

Vigo smiled while shaking his head. "Unfortunately, this is not something that can be accepted on faith. Its not enough just to believe, you have to actually feel the magic around you. It really is all over the place, its just more concentrated in some areas than others."

"Like the Sun stone?"

"Precisely. Just try to see it for a minute." Zeal obediantly relaxed and concentrated deeply.

After a few minutes, she sighed. "See what Vigo? I can't see a darn thing."

Vigo sighed. "I'm not saying its easy, but watch." Vigo stared straight ahead. His eyes seemed to glaze over. Then six lines of green energy became visible. They all converged in one spot, and a huge explosion leveled all three boulders. Schala froze where she stood. This was just what she had seen in her dream. Did that mean all those other horrible things were going to happen?

Vigo turned, then a smile crossed his face. "Happy birthday princess! I'm sorry, did we wake you up?"

"No, its fine Dad." She shook her head, smiling a little. "I just had a few nightmares."

"I'm sorry to hear that. You want to tell us about them?"

"No. I don't think you want to know, Dad. I really don't think you want to know."

.

"Not a nightmare... but a beautiful reality!" - The Demon Mother


	12. The New Source

**The Origin Of Mount Woe Chapter 12**

**The New Source**

By Nanaki

12,010 B.C.

Vigo woke suddenly. He could swear he had just felt an earthquake. But that was impossible. He was floating six thousand feet above the true ground. Looking out the window, he saw an odd flickering light coming from the Sun keep. "What the..." He got out of bed, put on a robe, and quickly walked through the silent corridors of Enhasa. When he got to the Sun keep, a terrible sight met his eyes.

The flickering was coming from the Sun stone. The mighty magical artifact looked like it was about to give out. Vigo gulped. He quickly gathered all the magical energy he could from the vicinity and pumped it into the Sun stone. He knew this was just a drop in the magical bucket for this thing, and quickly shouted until he was sure everyone was awake, "Emergency! Emergency! The Sun stone is going out! Everyone get up!"

Golden lights began to pour from every window in Enhasa. Melchior was the first one on the scene. "What's going on? Did I hear you right? The Sun stone is going out?"

"It certainly appears that way. Why is this happening? This was supposed to last one hundred years without the Earthbound ones!"

"You don't suppose those odd blue creatures the guards sometimes report have anything to do with this?"

"What, the Nus? As the guards call them? No, I've never seen proof that even one Nu actually exists, and even if they do, I don't think they would have anything to do with this." Vigo thought for a moment, before finally speaking as Gaspar and Belthasar ran up. "Schala."

"What? What about Schala?" Gaspar asked, out of breath.

"She's the one who used up all the energy! Remember the day she was born? And there have been instances since!" Now Schala and Zeal, and a multitude of other people, came running up to the Sun keep. "Schala, how many times have you used the Sun stone?" Vigo asked quickly.

"Five, that I remember. Six, since everyone is always telling me about the day I was born."

"Six?!" Vigo was astounded.

"What's wrong?" Schala asked, a worried expression on her face.

"You used up the energy." Vigo couldn't say anything else.

"Yeah. I didn't think that rock would last much longer. But I can keep it going until you get other systems set up." Everyone was speechless. "What?"

"How are you going to keep it going?" Melchior finally asked.

"Simple. Watch this." Schala spread her arms. A purple beam of light shot up from the ground and into the Sun stone. Everyone gaped.

"Schala, where did you learn that?" Vigo's mouth was agape.

"What do mean "learn it?" I've always known this stuff."

"What were the other systems you were talking about?"

"You need to set up some sort of device to harness the planet's energy more easily. Something like the Sun stone, but for the planet instead. Since that thing is almost out, you should save it for emergencies."

Vigo just stood there for a minute, then a huge grin spread across his face. "I don't believe it!Melchior, Gaspar, Belthasar, if you please."

"Another sleepless night, I see." Melchior sighed. "Schala, if you'll help us."

"I guess so." She said timidly. She followed the three men off to Melchior's workshop. The crowd began to disperse.

Zeal walked up to Vigo and put her arm around his waist. "That is some amazing daughter we have."

"Most defintely. I'm sure there's not another child like her in the world. But at times like these, I'm kind of glad for that. Can you imagine what it would be like if every child in Enhasa used the Sun stone for their own covert purposes?"

"We'd be on the ground already." She sighed. "Do you really think they'll come up with some alternate energy source overnight?"

"With those four talents combined, yes. Even if its only temporary, that'll give the Sun stone time to recharge." They stayed there for a while, looking at the stars. Suddenly, there was a loud hammering sound, a small explosion, and a cloud of smoke drifting up from Melchior's workshop. This was followed by Schala's voice.

"What did I tell you? NOW do you believe me?! Put the Dreamstone pipeline over here!" Vigo chuckled.

"I guess dealing with those three all night will be punishment enough for her. Shall we retire?"

"Let's shall." Zeal said, jokingly. "Really, I wish you wouldn't speak formally around me."

"Why? Does it remind you of when you were so distant from me?"

"I never want to be away from you again Vigo. As long as I live." She stared into his eyes, seeing the fire inside them once again. She gladly accepted his kiss.

"Its good to know you still feel that way. Since Schala's away, shall we retire together?"

"Sounds good to me." She smiled.

Deep inside the planet, Lavos stirred. Something else was also stirring down here, he realized.Was it time to act yet? No, not quite, but it wouldn't hurt much to be a few years early. Suddenly, he felt an overwhelming urge to return to his meditation. Oh well, he could wait a little longer.

* * *

Violen: That was close. He almost woke up. Are you sure he won't stir now?

Serges: Very sure. He'll be down for a while. The question is, why are we up?

Jade: It almost felt as though the planet's energy was being drained.

Serges: No! These creatures should not be able to take our power!

Jade: No? Well I have a feeling that this thing under here has something to do with it.

Violen: Are you all sure he's not one of us?

Shivan: No, and I'm not sure what we are either. We weren't always like this.

Serges: What do you mean?

Shivan: I mean, we weren't always able to speak like this, or to think so clearly.

Jade: Exactly. I think this monster has given us more power somehow.

Violen: We can worry about him later. What about our energy?

Serges: We'll give whoever used it a short time to knock it off. Otherwise, we go into action.

Shivan: Action. Heh, heh. Its what we're made for.

Jade: I don't think they're gonna stop.

Serges: Me neither. Its about time something happened on this boring world.

Violen: You all talk like you're going to enjoy this.

Shivan: Oh, we are.

Serges: Pain...

Jade: Yes indeed!

Violen: ...

.

"If it's energy were used up, it would change into a Moon stone." - Anonymous


	13. Storm Brewing

**The Origin Of Mount Woe Chapter 13**

**Storm Brewing**

By Nanaki

12,010 B.C.

A young messenger ran excitedly up the halls. "Your majesty! Your-" A guard stepped out of the Queen's chamber, holding a hand up to the girl's face.

"What is it? The Queen is very busy. She and her advisors are planning the King's 30th birthday celebration." The man said in a bored tone, as if this wasn't the first time he had said that this morning.

"But its important! Her father has fallen ill..."

"What?!" The door burst open, and Zeal rushed out. To tell the truth, she had already grown immensely tired of her advisors' gossip and giggling. She had been looking for some excuse to leave.

"Your majesty, your father has become ill with some mysterious ailment. The head medic is with him now." The girl said apologetically.

"Take me to him!" Zeal ordered imperiously. She followed the girl down several flights of stairs to the medical wing. There, Maro was lying in bed, looking very old. "Father, what happened?"

"Oh, Zeal. Its so nice to see you. You've been so busy lately..."

"We don't know what's wrong with him." The head medic walked up. "He was like this when he woke up this morning. Where is King Vigo, may I ask?"

"I don't know." Zeal put her hand up to her head. "Oh wait. Yes I do. He's over at Melchior's workshop, viewing Schala's device."

.

Vigo peered at the odd contraption. It looked like a turtle with tentacles sticking out of it's shell, but he couldn't doubt that it was working. The Sun stone was sitting off to the side, clearly not being used, while purple beams of energy were appearing from the ground and being collected by Schala's machine. The misshapen Dreamstone pipes glowed brightly.

"Satisfied now Dad?" Schala asked, yawning. She had been up all night with Belthasar, Melchior and Gaspar, none of whom could agree on any single detail about the machine. She had had to do most of the work. Now the three men had their heads down on the table, snoring amid sheets of parchment.

"I guess so." Vigo allowed a grin to creep up his face. "This machine is really amazing Schala. No energy from the Sun stone is being used?"

"Not one bit. I came up with the principle myself. Melchior just did the design."

Suddenly, a messenger burst into the room. He was very young to be a messenger in Enhasa. He was probably only about fifteen. Then something in Vigo's head clicked. "Dalton?"

'Watch out for Dalton!' The voice of the blue haired man thundered through Schala's head as clearly as if the words had just been said. Vigo noticed the look on her face.

"Schala? Is something wrong?"

"No, dad. Its nothing." Then, to herself 'Yet!'

"Your majesty," Dalton began, P.O.ed at having the attention drift from him so quickly, "Master Maro has taken ill with a mysterious ailment. He and Queen Zeal request your presence immediately." Then, to himself 'What a load of B.S!'

'I'll give you a load.' Schala thought back. She and Dalton looked at each other in surprise. Vigo had caught none of the odd exchange.

"Of course. I'll go at once." Vigo's cape billowed behind him as he left the room.

* * *

Serges: Violen, you know I hate waiting. Why are you giving them more time?

Violen: We really didn't send them any message the first time. They had no clue that it was bad to use the planet's energy.

Jade: What about when they raised their damn mountain in the first place?

Serges: That was just a token show of resistence. But now its time for the real thing!

Violen: We should give them this one last chance. I have made their second most powerful mage very ill. If they don't interpret that correctly, then you all may move.

Serges: Humans are too stupid! They won't understand that sign.

Violen: I thought you would be mad if I gave them too clear of a sign.

Serges: Very well. They have one rotation to stop using their infernal machine. If they don't...

* * *

"So you have no clue what's wrong with him?" Vigo asked with narrowed eyes. The head medic shook his head, eyes downcast.

"Don't be so angy Vigo." Maro said weakly. "Its not like this is a premature death."

"You're not going to die! Of course not. Sheesh, what is it with this family? A little bad thing happens, and you're all ready to embrace death!" Vigo turned angrily and stormed out of the room.

"Vigo! Wait a minute!" Zeal called after him.

"Let him go dear. He only said that because he's angry."

"He shouldn't just let his anger spill out like that! He's acting like a little kid."

"Has keeping your anger inside helped you all that much?"

"What do you mean?" Zeal looked up, surprised.

"You always keep your feelings bottled up. Except for me, Vigo, and Schala, you act as cold to everyone as you ever did. Whether you're ecstatic or full of rage. No one can ever tell." Zeal remained silent.

She finally stood up. "I suppose I better go talk to him."

.

Melchior woke up suddenly. Three figures were standing in the doorway of his workshop. "What are you doing here? Did anyone see you?"

"Not a soul." Mune assured him. "We've got important news."

"Our ship has begun picking up massive magical disturbances below the surface of the planet.And no, its not just Schala's machine." Doreen said gravely. "Something is awake down there, and its not happy."

"Not happy?" Melchior felt a lump in his throat. "What might this thing do?"

"I really don't know, but with that much power, it can't be good."

.

Vigo stood in the highest tower of Enhasa, his cape flapping in the wind. Zeal approached slowly, and put her hand on his shoulder. His gaze remained fixed on something straight ahead. "Vigo, c'mon. Maybe its just his time. I don't like to think about him dying either, but..."

"Schala's only seven. Its not his time yet. Some... ..force has decided to do this to him. I can sense that much."

"Where are you getting this from?" She sighed. "Quit chasing shadows. So he has a rare illness. That doesn't mean something has decided to take him out."

"I don't know. I just have bad feeling."

"Think about something else. Just look at the night. Quite a sight, isn't it?" Vigo gazed out at the stars, then down at the dark sea, and the lighter land mass beside it. It looked calm at the moment, but Vigo knew in his heart that it was anything but. "You're still in a weird mood!" She scolded. 'All right.' She thought. 'This calls for extreme measures.' She leaned up and kissed Vigo on the lips. He finally turned, smiling down at her. 'Works every time.' She smiled back.

"What's with you anyway? You used to encourage me to be dark and moody more often."

"That was a mistake." Zeal said, thinking about what Maro had said to her. "If someone who's turning thirty next week-" Vigo groaned, "can be cheerful, then I'll encourage it."

Vigo shook his head. "Boy, I sure never thought I'd see my thirtieth birthday!"

* * *

Serges: Oh, don't worry Vigo. You won't.

.

"Puny creatures, GO!" - Atma Weapon


	14. The Weapons Appear

**The Origin Of Mount Woe Chapter 14**

**The Weapons Appear**

By Nanaki

12,010 B.C.

Vigo woke up as the morning sun played across his ceiling. It was always a little odd to see the sun coming from below where he was standing, but that was the price to be paid when you lived above the clouds. He stood up slowly, being careful not to disturb Zeal. He glimpsed his dagger hanging on the wall, and all his troubles came rushing back into his head. He had better get down to see Maro. But then, a good thought crossed his mind. Since they were no longer dependent on the Sun stone for energy, they could begin bringing the earthbound ones back up to Enhasa. Vigo smiled as he got dressed. Maybe there would be an up side to these recent events after all.

He walked over to the Sun keep to check on the situation, but even before he got there, he could tell everything was running smoothly. He didn't bother to knock as he ventured inside Melchior's workshop. "Good morning Melchior." He said into the darkened space.

"Aah! King Vigo! Ah, yes. Good Morning. What are you doing here so early?"

"What's the problem?" Vigo asked, giving Melchior an odd look. He was not used to Melchior acting this way. Then, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. He could swear he saw a small, dark figure dash through a doorway.

"Well, your majesty, we, I mean, I was just-"

"Forget it, he saw us." Another figure came out of the same doorway. "Did you have to pick right then to get under cover, Mune?"

"Sorry Doreen. Masa told me to run, so I ran!"

"Don't blame me." Masa said, following Doreen out of the door. Vigo and Melchior were both staring at them. "Don't look so shocked Melchior," Masa tried hard not to laugh at his expression, "we would have had to talk to Vigo pretty soon anyway."

Vigo's jaw finally closed. "Er, talk to me about what?"

Suddenly, there was a blinding flash. Running to a window, Vigo saw a fair portion of the mountain roll down the slope, and off the edge of Enhasa. Fire played across the mountainside, dislodging more boulders. A few ran down toward the city, smashing through the walls. Screams came from the lower portion of Enhasa. "That." Masa shook his head sadly.

.

As Vigo ran across the plateau, forty guards and explorers instantly fell in behind him. Now he could see a shape rising up in the center of the explosion. It was faintly humanoid, but sort of hunched over, and massively muscled. The thing, whatever it was, saw them, and jumped down the mountain to the plateau in about four bounds. Vigo stopped in his tracks. Then men behind him clattered into each other to avoid hitting him. The thing used this confusion to close the gap completely.

Vigo looked up bravely, although he was very afraid. The monster was about fifty feet tall, and had light blue skin. Much of it was covered by a darker blue metal or rock, he couldn't tell which. The body was indeed humanoid, although with thicker legs, arms, and neck than any human could possess. But the head, the face resembled something out of a nightmare. A nightmare that was best forgotten. Vigo crossed his fingers and hoped desperately that he was still asleep.

"King Vigo of Enhasa?" The thing boomed in a voice like small earthquake.

"I am he." Vigo stepped confidently forward. "State your business."

The thing laughed heartily. "So, does formal talk allow you to hide your feelings?" Vigo instantly remembered that was just what Zeal did when she felt, well, when she felt anything.

"How do you know me so well?" Vigo lowered his eyes

"I am Serges, leader of the defenders of this planet. We are known by many names in mythology. Perhaps you've heard of us? We are also known as Summoned Monsters, Fiends, Guardians, Espers, or Weapons."

"So who summoned you?" Vigo planned on wringing the neck of the mage who had tampered with forces WAY beyond his control.

The Weapon laughed again. It sent shivers down Vigo's spine. "Why, the planet itself! You're sucking the energy out of it's heart. We can't allow that to continue." Then the smile vanished from it's nightmarish face. "You must stop use of your machine immediately. I don't care what else you do, but you cannot use any more of the planet's energy."

"What?! Of course not! I can't give in to such an unreasonable demand!" Serges frowned. Suddenly, blue beams of energy burst from his eyes, killing ten of Vigo's men instantly. Vigo cursed himself for his quick tongue. He should have slowly and carefully manipulated Serges to do what he wanted, like any good politician. Instead, he had spoke his mind, something a good ruler almost never did. For the first time, he also cursed the fact that Allegan had not had a rival kingdom for nearly three hundred years. If they had, he would have been better at placating angry warlords.

Serges took a step forward, and the ground shook. Dirt and chunks of rock flew up in Vigo's face as the huge leg descended. Now Vigo looked up angrily. "Its not a demand," Serges growled, "its a command. You don't have a choice. Shut that machine down, or I'll do it for you."

Vigo closed his eyes for a second, but the choice was clear. The Sun stone was only beginning to regain it's strength. If he stopped using Schala's machine, Enhasa would fall... Now his eyes opened, full of their internal fire. Yes, it would fall, and they would never get it back up again, because these were the same creatures that had tried to keep them from raising the mountain in the first place! "I will not shut down the machine."

"Very well." Serges took a step toward the Sun keep. Suddenly, six lines of green energy formed between his feet. Serges vanished in a huge explosion. When everyone could see again, there was a twenty foot crater in the middle of the plateau. It was completely empty.

"He's gone!" One of the men shouted. There were cheers all around:

"King Vigo beat the monster!"

"He was all talk. Vigo beat him with one hit!" Vigo thought this was too good to be true. He glanced around everywhere, but there was no sign of Serges. He smiled in relief. Then, his world was turned upside down.

Vigo was thrown across the field as Serges burst from the earth. Ironically, only the men closest to Serges survived. They were all thrown out of his range. The men who were slightly farther away weren't so lucky. Serges jumped out of the ground and quickly executed a low, sweeping kick. Nearly twenty men were thrown high into the air. Few were alive when they landed. Even fewer survived the landing. The rest of the men scattered, but Serges obviously only had one real target: Vigo.

Serges raised his foot to squish Vigo like a bug, but found himself toppling over. A deadly mixture of fire and lightning flew from Vigo's outstretched hand, and Serges crashed to the ground. Vigo prepared to cast the same spell again, but a wall of earth rose up to block it. Serges smashed through the wall of stone, and Vigo was hurt badly by the falling rocks. While he was recuperating, many of the men that had scattered cast spells against Serges. The Weapon shrugged them all off. Suddenly, Serges stretched out his arm.

A huge blue explosion raged across most of the plateau. Vigo felt the life draining from his body. Many more men were killed. Those who had survived stood, open mouthed, outside the area of destruction. Vigo faintly hear their comments through his burning ears. "Its unbelievable!"

"That was more powerful than Luminaire! No wonder it didn't hurt him!"

Vigo managed to stand up. He quickly cast water on himself to put out the fire in his hair and on his clothes. The water seemed to aborb the extra electricity in his body, and carry it out of him. Maybe he could work out a spell with Maro... No! He needed his mind clear! Why was he drifting?

Serges grinned again. For all his magical prowess, this king obviously had no powers of telepathy. But scanning the area, he found there were several who did. Telepathy was not his forte. He needed to end the battle quickly.

Vigo felt his head clearing. Glancing up, his spirits sank as he saw that Serges appeared to be completely unharmed. He redoubled his efforts, and quickly cast Flare. Serges staggered back for a second, before laughing. Vigo couldn't understand it. Flare was an insanely powerful spell. Serges' laughter subsided a little. "Ah, my foolish young king, I take it you've never heard of Merton?"

As Serges began to gather his magic, Vigo's eyes glazed over. He hurriedly analyzed the magical waves that Serges was collecting. What else could Serges do with that pattern? Vigo decided to find out.

Serges grin finally faded away when the expected Nuee Ardente storm that usually came with Merton did not appear. In fact, not even a little flame came out. He did not really begin to worry until he saw an amoeba shaped ball of energy appear in front of Vigo. Suddenly, spears of every color of energy burned out his retinas and plowed into him. Now he was concerned. Where had Vigo learned Flare Star?

Vigo began to feel relief. Although Serges was still standing, the Weapon was clearly hurt. Vigo had to press his advantage. He quickly cast another spell he had seen in Serges' pattern, and hoped this would finish him. They were both running out of magical waves. If this battle turned physical again, Serges would win without even trying. Vigo stretched out his arms. The resulting spell went from white to black, and seemed to pass in and out of human vision. Finally, Serges crashed to the ground. He staggered back to his feet, but Vigo sensed that the fight was out of him.

"Sh-Shadow Flare?" Serges grumbled, rubbing his eyes. "No fair. That's Shivan's domain!" So, Serges was weak against Shadow? Vigo filed that interesting little tidbit away in his mind. Suddenly, three beams of varying shades of purple smashed into Serges' head. He collapsed on the ground, and a large purple explosion engulfed him. Whirling around, Vigo saw Schala was standing behind him with glowing hands.

After that attack, the ground around Serges seemed to warp. Their vision of him was obscured. Shouts came from the edge of the field. "Stop him! Its getting away!" But Vigo just shook his head. He knew that if Serges wanted to leave, no human could stop him. Then, the glow on Schala's hand turned white. She cast Life until the magical waves on the field were used up. She looked up at Vigo with pleading eyes, wondering what to do.

"Well Schala," Vigo smiled down at his daughter, "I guess you get to use the Sun stone again."

* * *

Violen: Serges, why did you do that? You were supposed to deliver a message, not go on a killing spree!

Serges: Ha! Take a look at his daughter. I didn't do any permanent damage.

Violen: But it was so violent...

Serges: That was just an opening skirmish. It was nice to finally meet a worthy opponent anyway.

Violen: Are you positive all this is necessary?

Shivan: Totally necessary, Violen. These people are dangerously close to discovering mako energy. They didn't care about using the Sun stone up, why should they care about using up our spirit energy?

Serges: I'm glad you're here Shivan. That little perp used Shadow Flare against me. Since you're our Shadow expert, I was hoping you could tell me how he did it.

Shivan: Well sure, just let me explain about the different magical field potential for Shadow...

Violen: ...

.

"Impossible. We hit it dead center!"

"70 knots!"

"Not good! Its attacking!" - Rufus Shinra and Heidigger (discussing Sapphire Weapon)


	15. Shivan

**The Origin Of Mount Woe Chapter 15**

**Shivan**

By Nanaki

12,010 B.C.

Vigo watched the Sun stone flicker faintly in Schala's hands as the last of the men Serges had slain wearily got to his feet. Other men quickly helped him off to the medical wing. Melchior's men were already busy at work repairing the lower sections of the city. A forced silence fell over the crowd as the injured man was carried inside. Vigo took the Sun stone from Schala, who backed away carefully. Vigo looked at it for a second, then the closest guards had to duck as Vigo drop kicked the object as far away as he could. "Now," Vigo said in a cold, rumbling voice, "can someone tell me what the hell is going on here?" He didn't raise his voice. That fact made the people around him even more nervous.

Masa stepped forward. "Well, yes. I believe so." Masa stepped back as Vigo glared at him. "..Sir. Since you set up your new machine, we have been getting very unusual readings from the planet's center. Now, it appears that these beings are living there, and drawing energy out of the planet has made them very unhappy."

"But what can we do?" Vigo asked the crowd. "We can't use the Sun stone, we can't land, we can't use the planet's energy... Is there anything else we can use?"

"Nothing else from this world has enough power." Schala said with conviction.

Vigo just stared at the ground. "Very well everyone. It appears we can do nothing but prepare for their next attack."

.

"I know of no way around this situation except to defeat them." Maro said weakly from where he was propped up in bed. Vigo was brooding on the other side of the room.

"I don't know if I can. I don't know if both of us can. I don't know if everyone in Enhasa can!"Vigo shouted in exasperation. "I barely survived a fight against one of them! Against however many there are down there, I don't know."

"Yes, but that one claimed to be their leader. If he really is, that should mean the rest are weaker than he is. If we can plan an effective strategy..."

"Even if we can defeat them, I'm not sure its such a good idea." Maro looked up with questioning eyes. "What if an occassion arises where we need someone to defend the planet? It would be good to have such strong allies against a common threat."

"What? Vigo, do you really think some alien is going to ride in here and try to use us all for it's own sinister purposes? I think these Weapons have made you paranoid." Vigo decided not to tell Maro about Masa, Mune, and Doreen.

"Fine." Vigo turned to one of the messengers standing ready. "Tell my council to assemble at once. We've got to do something, even if I don't know what." The messenger turned and rushed off.

.

Vigo smiled as he watched his councilors file into the room. For once, they were too concerned to talk endlessly, and actually acknoweldged his existence. Last in line was a young man Vigo did not remember seeing before. "Excuse me son, but I don't remember seeing you in my council before."

"I've just been assigned here sire." The young man said modestly. "My name is Sergio." As the young man turned to take his seat, Vigo thought he saw a blue glint in his eye, but he couldn't be sure. Vigo shook his head. It wouldn't do to chase shadows.

"Okay everyone, we have a very serious situation on our hands." Vigo began. What little talking had been going on died down immediately. "As you all know, we have been attacked by a Weapon of the planet. He expressed displeasure, to put it lightly, that we are drawing energy from the planet." As Vigo kept a careful eye on Sergio, he decided to change tactics. "But while in battle, I discovered that the Weapon, and probably all the Weapons, have an easily exploitable weakness. Serges did a great deal of damage, but I believe that is only because he had the element of surprise. If we are prepared for them, we can probably defeat these Weapons with little or no trouble."

The councilors muttered disturbed comments. Most did not consider this to be a wise course of action. Vigo was not watching them. He saw Sergio frown a little. 'I thought there was something odd about that boy.' He began to move through the crowd.

Suddenly, a huge blast of magical energy sent Vigo sprawling into the wall, where he landed upside down. He quickly glared at Sergio, but the boy was standing as open mouthed as everyone else. Vigo looked down from his odd position to see his opponent. One of the crotchety old councilors was hobbling toward him. "Little or no trouble?! I've never been so insulted! You just got yourself a whole lot of trouble Vigo!" As Vigo stared, the old man melted away and Serges stood in his place. Serges seemed small at first, but he quickly began growing until he burst through the ceiling of the council chamber.

Serges smashed his way outside as the councilors scattered, Vigo following as best he could. As he stepped through a gaping hole in the wall, he had to jump aside as a white hot blast of fire smashed into the ground in front of him. Some of the councilors were staring through windows one floor up. Vigo smiled. "So you want another fight Serges? I'll be only too happy to oblige." Vigo and Serges both began to gather magical waves.

"NO!" The King and the Weapon both turned back to the shattered side of Enhasa. Sergio jumped out of a second floor window, landing unharmed. Vigo's spirits began to sink. "No Serges, he knows your weakness!"

"Shivan, you've blown your cover!" Serges growled unhappily.

"You're one to talk!" Sergio replied. Then his tone became more polite. "You must leave now sir. This man is very powerful. If he fights with Shadow..."

Serges thought for a minute. "Very well. Vigo, you're getting the chance to get aquainted with another one of us Weapons! I'm sure Shivan will show you a good time." With that, Serges jumped into the air, and did not land. He ascended so fast, he was out of sight in a few seconds.

Vigo turned back to face Sergio, but saw that the facade was fading away. In his place was a decidedly dragon like monster, although it had vaguely human posture. The body was covered in dark red scales. The lanky arms had extremely long claws, and the head was even stranger than Serges'. "Vigo, prepare to have your little mountain destroyed!" Shivan growled.

"Never! You cannot defeat us!" Vigo answered. The two combatants raced toward each other. Right before they met, there was a blinding flash. The two staggered back, dazed. Apparently they had cast exactly opposite spells, and had canceled each other out. Shivan swiped at Vigo with his claws, tearing a ragged gash in Vigo's shoulder.

Then Shivan stared at his arms. "Oops. I forgot one little detail. Weapon size, engage!" Shivan folded his arms, and a red light surrounded him. Instantly, Shivan became almost forty five feet tall. Vigo jumped back, the blood streaming freely from his shoulder. He launched a simple water spell at Shivan, to test his defences. Shivan was hardly affected.

Shivan pointed a claw at Vigo, and a rain of blazing pearls streamed across the land. As Vigo was recovering from that, Shivan cast Flare. Vigo screamed as the spell burned away his skin.He quickly cast Cure 2 on himself, but he knew he couldn't stand this kind of attack for long. "So Vigo, you wanted to play with Shadow?" Shivan growled with glee. Vigo's eyes widened as a huge black triangle and a smaller white one raced toward him. He braced himself for the impact, but suddenly he saw a weak point in the waves that Shivan was drawing in. To Shivan's horror, the black triangle turned white, the white one turned black, and they began to meld together. In a few seconds, they had formed a bright yellow hexagon that came to rest in Vigo's hand. Shivan assumed a defensive position, not knowing what Vigo would do next.

"Yes I did." Vigo smiled. "But since you seem to like it too, this will be much better." Vigo held up his hand, and a huge beam of light shot out of the hexagon, smashing Shivan into the ground. The hexagon faded away.

Shivan got up, leaving a small impact crater. "What was that?"

"Call it the thinking mage's version of brute force." Vigo smiled. "Now, since you don't like light too much, how about some lightning?" Shivan drew himself up. Vigo saw a slight yellow shimmer flash across Shivan's scales. Vigo quickly stretched out his arm and cast Ice 2. Shivan collapsed to the ground again. "Oh Shivan, you actually believed me? You must remember, I'm a politician! Lying is my trade!" Following that smug statement, Vigo cast Luminaire.

Shivan roared, little bits of Shadow energy leaking from his ripped scales. Vigo noticed a severe disruption in the magical waves around Shivan. If Vigo was reading them right, it meant that Shivan could no longer counter attack with magic! Vigo needed something to finish him before he could recover. 'Luminaire is pretty powerful, but I don't think that will do it. Wait! He didn't like that light thing very much. If I can combine...' Vigo let his thoughts drift off. He closed his eyes and began to hover in the air. It was extremely difficult, but Vigo managed to cast the light spell and Luminaire at the same time. He was very pleased with the results.

The spell Serges had used on him not very long ago now smashed into Shivan. The Weapon cried out in agony as the spell blew his claws off. When the dust cleared, Vigo was amazed to see Shivan shrinking back to his original size. Soon the Weapon was only about six feet tall, slunched over, his long claws lying next to him on the ground. Vigo grinned rather sadistically and drew his Dreamstone dagger.

Shivan saw Vigo charge his way and picked up one of his claws. Or at least, he tried to. But his claws had not shrunk with him, since they had been severed from his body. Shivan was dismayed to find he could not lift the claw above his waist. Vigo leaped forward, and sliced off the hand that was holding the claw. Shivan pulled back his other hand and punched Vigo with all his might, but it was no use. Vigo crouched down, and then jumped up and stabbed the dagger deep into Shivan's chest. Shivan froze in place, his arms twitching. "Serges!" He yelled. "Help..." but then, speech failed him. Vigo stepped back, waiting for Shivan to collapse, but then thought better of it as he realized that Weapons might not have their hearts in their chests. Vigo ran forward again, swinging upward with all his might.

The dagger took Shivan's head. An inky black liquid squirted up from the severed spinal column, and then Shivan's body exploded into millions of tiny black pieces. Vigo stood panting, the black inchor dripping from his dagger. Finally, he turned to face the shattered wall of Enhasa, where as many of the population as could fit at the windows were watching, every mouth open, every set of eyes staring wide. "See?" Vigo said in a hoarse whisper. "They can be defeated with little or no trouble."

* * *

Serges: He killed Shivan! I mean, he killed Shivan!

Violen: Serges, please...

Serges: HE KILLED SHIVAN!!

Jade: Look Serges, we're all upset...

Serges: I never should have left that boy there alone! Vigo was too powerful. Vigo!

Violen: What would you have done if you had stayed? You might have been killed too.

Serges: Vigo! Let me at him! Right now! Oh... THAT LITTLE RAT FACED BASTARD KILLED SHIVAN!!

Jade: Violen! Hold him back!

Violen: Please Serges! We need a plan first! Vigo will slaughter you with Shadow! I don't know how, but he can read our weaknesses!

Serges: Hmmm. You have a point. But I assure you all, it will not be long before Vigo breathes his last.

* * *

Serges: What's this? No quote? You kill one of us off, and you can't even think of a quote?

Nanaki: Hey sorry. I haven't been able to think of any good ones lately.

Serges: Well get your super genius brain in gear, and pay some respect to Shivan!

Nanaki: I said I was sorry. Look man-

Serges: You do realize that you're talking to yourself.

Nanaki: Okay everyone, if you can think of some good Squaresoft quotes that deal with battles and death, I'd appreciate it if you'd e-mail them to me. Because the next few chapters are going to have a lot more battles and death. I've said too much already. Stay tuned for Chapter 16, this is far from over!

(Nanaki's note: That last little exchange was from when this story was originally written, in the fall of 1997. Please don't send me any quotes. I have plenty at the moment.)


	16. Pieces of Chaos

**The Origin Of Mount Woe Chapter 16**

**Pieces Of Chaos**

By Nanaki

12,010 B.C.

Vigo arrived back at his room and collapsed on the bed. He grunted, then pulled out one of the pearls that had fallen and threw it away. His body was aching terribly. He might be able to beat the Weapons, yes, but not if they kept attacking with this frequency. If Serges found a way to protect himself from Shadow, Vigo was toast. And of course, Vigo had no idea about the strengths or weaknesses of any other Weapons that may have been down in the earth. He yelled his frustration into a pillow. Then he heard a door open. Looking up, he saw Zeal quietly close the door.

"Things aren't going so well, are they?" She asked, immediately sensing his feelings. Many of the people in Enhasa were celebrating Vigo's victory at the moment, but Vigo knew they didn't see the big picture.

"One might say that."

Zeal sighed. "Okay, I know what you're feeling, but I don't know why."

"Look. Contrary to the show I put on for the council members, that was an incredibly hard battle. And against Serges... I don't even want to talk about it. The truth is, if I ever have to fight more than one Weapon at once, I'm dead. Its as simple as that."

"Now who's being the pessimist? For all we know, Serges may be the only other Weapon down there. And even if he isn't, you were magnificent out there. Your magic may be powerful enough to stop them."

"It isn't." Vigo said flatly, not looking at her. "No matter how powerful it is, I don't have enough experience. Let me explain," he said, seeing the puzzled expression on her face. "I learned all these spells from my father, who had learned them from his father, and so on. You'd have to go pretty far up my family tree to find someone who had actually used these spells in battle. So basically, I can dish it out, but I really can't take it." He smiled slightly when he saw she was still confused. "Look, I didn't earn the knowledge for myself, so I wasn't prepared to take any responsibility for it. Or even the knew spells I learned from the Weapons... I just saw what they had done, and took the next step. Those powers might fail me at any time, especially if the Weapons alter their magical wavelength, which is quite likely now." Zeal just shook her head and smiled.

"Only my father would understand what you just said, and he's not receiving visitors a the moment."

"I'm afraid I'm going to need his help pretty soon. I hate to say it, but we must start organizing battle plans. We should also set up some physical defences around Enhasa, because it can't keep taking beatings like this."

"Vigo, your councilors are already working on it. And needless to say, Melchior, Belthasar, and Gaspar will be up all night doing everything that can possibly help."

Vigo began to get up. "But still, I should go down to Melchior's workshop myself. They could use my input."

Zeal pulled on the tattered remains of his cape. He sank back down to the bed. "Vigo, will you just relax for a few minutes? Right now, there's nothing you can do that your underlings can't do without you. Why are you so jumpy?" She tried to look into his eyes, but he avoided her gaze. "Oh my. You meant what you said about dying didn't you?"

"Yes. I hate to admit it Zeal, but, I'm afraid. I don't want to die. Not yet."

"For and hour or two, could you try to put every worry out of your head? I know its hard, especially for a good leader like you, but you need to relax. There is nothing you can do at the moment. Nothing! Just stay here with me." Now Vigo looked at her, and gladly accepted her embrace. He kissed her deeply. "That' s better." Zeal grinned at him, and pulled the covers over both of them. "Now lets see if we can put some fire back in those eyes."

Vigo began to smile. He kissed her again. "I'm still scared Zeal."

She rested her head on his shoulder. "If you must know, I'm afraid for you too."

Violen: ... Serges? Is that you?

Serges: Yes. I'm back.

Violen: How did it go?

Serges: There was nothing I could do to save him, but I did manage to gather all his spirit energy before it could mix with the lifestream.

Jade: So what does that mean, exactly?

Serges: He won't be the same, that's for sure. But since he won't be anyone else either, he will be very similar. He'll probably give Vigo quite a battle.

Jade: So do we have a definite time for attack?

Serges: I say right now!

Violen: Hold it Serges. Soon, yes. But both sides need time to recuperate.

Serges: Very well. We will launch the final attack in twenty four hours. And make no mistake, this is the final attack!

Jade: I will be ready sir! We will destroy Enhasa or die trying! We shall avenge Shivan!

Serges: Yes! Vigo will suffer like he has never suffered before!

Violen: ...

Melchior knocked on the outer door to Vigo's chambers. A young guard stepped out. "I'm sorry, Master Melchior, but his majesty cannot be disturbed right now. Perhaps you should come back in-" He turned around as Vigo wearily stumbled out the door. A tired, yet happy look was in his eyes.

"Its all right. I'm ready to go." Melchior gave Vigo a long, piercing look, but could determine nothing from his odd expression.

"Is anything the matter Vigo?" Melchior couldn't help asking.

Vigo stepped beside him, and they began to walk down the hall. "Nothing at all." Melchior quickly turned his head and examined Vigo anew. "Er... other than the Weapon attacks, that is." Vigo began whistling uneaslily. Melchior laughed, as he finally realized why it was that Vigo had posted orders not to be disturbed.

As Vigo and Melchior rounded a corner, Zeal poked her head out of the door. "Excuse me," she beckoned to the guard, not stepping out. "Could you please go down to the tailor's and ask him to make up another green dress? That new Algetty/Trann style he came up with last year. There was a slight... accident. Mine was unfortunately torn." The guard turned to leave, a puzzled expression on his face. "Oh! Could you also please send up a new set of bed sheets, the carpenter, and a fresh container of chocolate sauce?" Zeal said in a rush, then slammed the door. The young guard commited the items to memory, then wondered what they all could mean.

.

"Now Vigo, as you can see," Melchior stretched his arm in wide arc out of a second floor window, "There are already many defence systems in effect. Right here, we have three catapults trained on the exact spot on the mountain where Serges first appeared. Soon, all of Enhasa will be surrounded by similar devices. Next, as you can see far out on the field, we are constructing defense bunkers where mages can cast spells, and hopefully be at least partially shielded from any retaliation. The newest defensive measure (the idea is barely two hours old!) cannot be seen. Between here and the mountain, mages especially gifted in earth magic have blasted tunnels all the way to the bottom of Enhasa, and recovered the top with a thin layer of earth. Now, we know that a fall wouldn't kill something like Serges, but it certainly would slow him down a little."

"I wonder if that's wise." Vigo muttered.

"Sire?"

"I was just thinking that Weapon in a tunnel like that could literally tear the mountain apart."

"We are prepared for that too sire. I've had my best men drop all other projects and begin making gigantic chains. They are not physically strong enough to hold the mountain together, but according to our research on the Sun stone, any object with a physical connection to something the stone is powering, no matter how weak, will also receive the stone's power."

"That would be very reassuring, if Enhasa was still powered by the Sun stone."

"That's the hard part. But this is just an emergency plan. I really doubt that an occassion will ever arise where we have to use these chains for any great length of time." Suddenly, Vigo and Melchior were thrown back from the window and into the wall by a huge explosion. As a deafening pounding thundered through their ears, they both saw a huge orange fireball rising from the near face of the mountain.

Vigo achingly got to his feet. "You just had to say that, didn't you Melchior?"

.

Vigo had run up to the mountain at full tilt, a company of twenty escort mages wheezing in pursuit, expecting to face Serges again, or at least another Weapon. But quite a different sight now met his eyes. He figured he would have a wait of at least thirty seconds before his most athletic mage caught up, and maybe a wait of two minutes before everyone arrived, so he stopped where he was. He suddenly had to jump back as Gaspar appeared right before him. "Huh? I didn't know you could teleport!"

"I didn't." Gaspar said, grinning. "Its a new device I've been working on. You know how we thought up that Stop spell?" Vigo nodded. "Well, now there's an item that does the same thing, and probably a lot better. I just used it, and walked over here at my leisure."

"Got any more?" Vigo asked hungrily. He could think of many ways to use this to his advantage. Surely if he had fifteen minutes to analyze their magical waves, he could beat any Weapon, no matter how powerful.

"Sorry, this was just a prototype. I hope to have several more ready by the time the Weapons launch their all out attack."

"Oh well. That's the future. Now we need to concentrate on the present. Can you see anything up there?" They both strained their eyes. Now that the fireball was diminishing a little, Vigo could see hundreds of small shapes running away from the massive blaze. Behind Vigo, the last of the mages were running up.

One of them exclaimed happily, "Nus! See, I told you they were real! Pay up!" Several of the mages around the young man squinted ahead, then angrily reached into their pockets.

Peering ahead again, Vigo saw that these creatures did indeed match the description of a Nu that some sleepy guards, or kids climbing the mountain, had given from time to time. They were all blue, except for one in the lead, who was a bright red. Vigo didn't know whether to run or fight, but while he was deciding, the red Nu slid to a halt barely ten feet from him. The rest of the Nus ran into each other, and eventually piled to a stop. The red Nu eyed Vigo, then, to his amazement, spoke. "Hello! I am Spekkio, the master of war! Pleased to meet you."

"Er... hello Spekkio. Do you know what happened to the mountain?"

"Not really. For the past couple weeks, its been warming up, and not very long ago, there was a fire in a few of our tunnels. But now, this huge explosion happened, and we were all forced out! We've lived in the mountain practically forever, and there's never been anything like this!"

Vigo thought for a minute. Suddenly, another huge explosion occurred, but this time deep in the heart of the mountain. They all felt the ground shudder under their feet, and the Nus scurried around, bumping into each other. Vigo saw the top of the mountain crumble away in a green fire. Cracks began to run down the side of Enhasa, and a green glow radiated out the sides. Sink holes began to appear in the plateau. Vigo tilted his head back, and everyone heard his shout above the chaos going on.

"MELCHIOR!! BRING THOSE CHAINS AND THE SUN STONE, AND BRING THEM HERE NOW!!"

.

"What a sorry state of affairs." - Melchior


	17. The Pendant

**The Origin Of Mount Woe Chapter 17**

**The Pendant**

By Nanaki

12,010 B.C.

Vigo once again watched the sun coming up, but he had gotten no sleep. Melchior was standing a few meters ahead, directing the last placement of the giant chains. The Sun stone was back in the Sun keep, being augmented (at least, they thought so) by Schala's machine.Spekkio and Gaspar had stayed up talking late into the night, and were now asleep on the grass. "Well, that about does it." Melchior said without satisfaction.

Vigo just nodded. The formerly beautiful mountain of Enhasa was now riddled with ugly chains, and broken apart in many places. "Vigo, I've been thinking."

"Well I should hope so!"

"I mean, thinking specifically about you... and Schala. The Weapons weren't serious about destroying the mountain last night. They never even showed up in person. They're just trying to get us to use up our resources. I've got a little invention that may provide a little extra protection for all of you. Come by my workshop in about a half hour, and I'll get started." Vigo raised his eyebrows, but Melchior just walked off.

.

Vigo, Zeal, and Schala walked into Melchior's workshop right on time. All three of them were very tired, but since Zeal and Schala had managed to get a little sleep, they were better off than Vigo. Melchior was tirelessly peering at on old scroll, looking for more ways to combat the Weapons. Masa, Mune, and Doreen were peering at what Vigo guessed were instruments from their ship in the back of the room, and now a Nu was sleeping in the corner. "Ah, Vigo. I'm glad you found time to make it."

"It seems we've got a little spare time. Nobody's come up with a new Weapon defence in nearly three hours. So, what do you have for us?" Melchior walked over to his forge and picked up a large piece of Dreamstone.

"You all know that Dreamstone is a very strong alloy. But it now seems that if you condense it enough, it can actually absorb strength from other things."

"Like Weapon magic?" Vigo almost yelled. With Gaspar's new invention, and Melchior's Dreamstone, he might stand a chance against Serges after all.

"I don't know yet, but I'm hoping." Not another word was said as Melchior dropped the Dreamstone ingot into his forge. He quickly began hammering, turning it around evenly. Occassionally, Vigo would catch glimpses of the stone, and saw that it was getting smaller and smaller. Finally, he became bored and stopped watching. A few minutes later, a blinding blue flash washed through the room. It wasn't exaclty a flash though, first of all because it took so long, and second, because if Dreamstone flashed, it was supposed to flash red.

Vigo felt like an eternity had just taken place. Looking outside, he saw that almost no time had gone by, but it didn't feel that way. Something felt funny on his stomach. Lifting up his shirt, he saw that there was a long, ragged, longe since healed scar on his stomach. Schala was shaking her head woozily. Vigo ignored his own bodily puzzle and walked over to her. "Schala, have you been growing a lot lately?"

"No, why?" She asked, puzzled.

"You just seem taller." He looked up again, startled. "Zeal, were you wearing that dress when we came in here?"

"I think so." She said apologetically, looking down at her skirt.

"I'm too tired." Vigo sighed. "I'm going to my chambers to try and get some rest."

"Oh. Vigo." Melchior said, rubbing the back of his head. "The Dreamstone is finished. Here." Melchior took out the now small stone, and set it on a light chain. He handed Vigo the pendant."This should help in your battle against the Weapons."

"The Weapons?" Vigo's mind wandered. "Oh yeah, Serges. I really need to get some sleep."

.

Vigo was running across Enhasa plateau with Zeal, free from all responsibilities. As they neared the mountain, three bubbles appeared in the earth. They grew to an enormous size, and finally, three Weapons emerged. "Ha! I'm not afraid of you!" Vigo grinned. He activated the device Gaspar had given him. But to his frustration, only the background froze, the Weapons remained free.

"I'm afraid that won't work against us, Vigo." Serges smirked. Serges stretched out his arm, and a spell flew at Vigo, shattering the pendant. Nevertheless, Vigo leapt at them. He was surprised to find he could do physical harm to the Weapons, and after an extensive struggle, he stood triumphant over the three. "Yes! I knew I could do it! Zeal, look, now we can-" Vigo stopped. As he turned to look at Zeal, she disappeared, to be replaced by Shivan's anguished face. "No! You're dead!!"

"So are you Vigo..." Shivan howled. "So are you."

.

Vigo sat up in bed, breathing heavily. "Even in my dreams, the Weapons attack." He mumbled. He got up to the window and looked out. The sun had set about a half hour ago, to judge from the light. Catapults and bunkers filled the plateau. They were probably as ready as they could be. "C'mon you lousy Weapons!" Vigo shouted at the night. "Come and get this over with. Let's end this ordeal, because I'm sick and tired of waiting."

Suddenly, the color of the night sky began to warp. Stars appeared and disappeared at random, until they finally all winked out. The sky flashed purple, red and yellow, until it finally turned pitch black and the buildings took on an eerie red glow. Then, an utterly inhuman scream filled the eardrums of every resident of Enhasa. Vigo's eyes widened. "I really wish I hadn't just said that."

.

"If history is to be changed, let it change. If the world is to be destroyed, so be it. If my fate is to die, I must simply laugh." - Janus

.

Nanaki: Yes this was a very short chapter, but I really only wrote it for Dark Magus, so no complaints! Don't worry, all the rest of you. You know I wouldn't make you wait long to find out what happens next. Thanks to Scott Arnold for the quote.

(Nanaki's note: Again, the above note is from 1997, and has no real relevance today. Though I am still thankful to Dark Magus and Scott Arnold for talking to me when I was a n00b at Icy's site.)


	18. Woe Comes to Enhasa

**The Origin Of Mount Woe Chapter 18**

**Woe Comes To Enhasa**

By Nanaki

12,010 B.C.

Serges grinned sadistically at the base of the mountain. He was glad to see their two explosions had done even more damage than he thought. He had tried to break the chains that held the mountain together, but every time he did, a bright flash came from the Sun keep, and the chains would not budge. He surveyed the once empty plateau, memorizing the positions of the bunkers and catapults. The catapults posed no threat, but he didn't know what kind of shielding was on the bunkers. "You two ready?" He asked the empty air. Behind him, Violen and Jade nodded in agreement.

As Serges stepped out of the rocks and into view of the sentries, many mages scrambled out to the bunkers. A few of the closer catapults fired stones that bounced harmlessly off his chest. They were quickly reloaded. This time, Serges had chosen to appear over three hundred feet tall. Violen and Jade were both over two hundred fifty feet. A few preliminary spells roared out of the bunkers, having no effect on the Weapons. Serges laughed, looking for a worthy opponent. No one was there yet, so he just stood waiting.

.

"Father, what are you doing?!" Zeal yelled. She had just arrived at the medical wing, and was shocked to see Maro struggling out of bed, despite the medics' protests.

"Zeal..." he coughed, "Vigo needs my help. I must go."

"No father! You're sick. You have to rest. You could die if you go out there!"

For once, Maro's poor eyes were clearly in focus. "Zeal, a lot of us ARE going to die tonight. There's nothing we can do about it. But maybe if I'm out there, Vigo doesn't have to."

Zeal thought about it for a moment, then a dark look came across her face. "Very well. But Schala and I will go too. We really don't know how many Weapons are out there, after all."

.

Serges was getting bored, so he stretched out his arm and summoned a lightning bolt massive enough to overcome any barrier put on the bunkers. To his surprise, the bunker he cast it on collapsed with no resistance, screams coming from the inside. "I don't believe it!" He cried, mouth opened in a grin. "Those bunkers only provide physical shielding! Ha!" Serges began to take a step forward, but the ground collapsed under his feet. He stepped back quickly and watched the thin layer of earth fall away. "What is this? A booby trap?"

"There's no telling how many of those things there are." Violen whispered.

"Oh yes there is." Serges reached to his side and drew out a huge sword that neither of the other two Weapons had noticed before. It was made of the same blue metal as his armor.

"I never knew you carried a sword." Jade smiled.

"I've never had cause to use it, until now." Serges concentrated for a moment, then drove the sword into the ground in a wide arc. "Blast Charge!" He screamed. A series of small explosions erupted from the ground, continuing outward in an ever expanding circle from the three Weapons. The topsoil was blown high into the sky, revealing two more large holes that led all the way to the bottom of the mountain. Many of the bunkers were heavily damaged as well. As the explosions finally disspated, Serges viewed the holes with interest. He looked at the chains in the mountain, then back at the holes. "Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" He asked, smiling.

Violen looked confused, but Jade nodded, smiling. "All right then, lets have at it!" Serges and Jade each dived into a hole, Violen following a moment later. The surviving mages in the bunkers didn't know what was going on, until bright lights began to flash from inside the holes. Cracks began running along the ground.

Then, to the mages' amazement, all three Weapons were hurled out of the holes, arms thrashing wildly. As Serges landed heavily, he recognized the insignificant insect standing at his feet. "Leaving so soon Serges?" Vigo asked smugly. As he rubbed his head, Serges noticed there was another man standing beside Vigo. "We thought you'd want to stay awhile. But if you're tired, you can take a nap... a long nap!" Vigo stretched out his hand, and two triangles flew at Serges. As Serges ducked, the triangles flew past him, but then returned like boomerangs. They fused together, and became a hexagon shaped beam of light that smashed into Serges. The surprising force of the blast actually threw Serges off of the plateau. Vigo smiled.

"Smile all you want Vigo, I'll be happy to wipe it off your face!" A Weapon Vigo had not seen before stepped forward. He was definitely draconian in form, no question. He had jade green scales, and huge claws on his feet. He was flanked by a Weapon who was more humanoid in form. She was less massively muscled than Serges, but still looked very powerful. Her face was surprisingly human, but it still was not. Her indescribable armor was a light blue in color, while her skin was nearly pure white. "We are here to avenge our friend Shivan, and to put an end to your leeching of the planets' energy!"

With no further warning, Jade charged forward. Vigo thought he was going to attack physically, but he jumped up while making an odd gesture. He was suddenly thrown high into the sky as a huge vein of pure jade erupted from the ground. He landed hard, and was buried by the jade as it cracked apart, as was the man next to him. The stones had barely settled when a green fire raged across them, melting them into one hard substance. "All too easy for a true Weapon." Jade grinned. He ran up to the jade mass and kicked it. It shattered into many pieces again. There was no sign left of Vigo.

Jade and Violen whirled around as a huge shadow rose up behind them. A wall of earth several hundred feet high towered over even the Weapons. Vigo and Maro stood on top of it."That was a close one!" Vigo breathed out. "You all right Maro?" He turned to the old man next to him.

"For now, yes, your majesty. I don't know how long I can hold up."

"All right then, we'll try to end it quick." Vigo turned back to look down on the Weapons. "If you specialize in only one type of magic-" Vigo spoke to Jade. As he spoke, the wall of earth crumbled, burying Jade beneath it. Only his head remained visible. The Weapon could not seem to free himself. "-you're likely to get burned. Or buried, at the very least." As the last of the pieces of earth came to rest, the ground beneath them rumbled.

"Your majesty, I would recommend that we not try anything like that again. The mountain is falling apart already." Maro sighed.

"I'll try not to Maro, but we may need that trick again, especially when Serges returns." As ifthat had been a cue, Serges rocketed out of one of the holes in the plateau, fireballs flying from his arms like machine gun bullets. Several more bunkers were decimated. "I really wish I hadn't just said that." Vigo frowned.

.

"Damage report!!" Melchior yelled over the din. Out in the field, Vigo and Serges were waging an explosive battle, and it looked like Maro and the other Weapon were sizing each other up. A young guard ran up.

"Sir, Gamma, Epsilon, and Iota bunkers have been destroyed. Omicron, Rho, and Omega bunkers have been severly damaged. The catapult ammunition has been nearly exhausted, and the Weapons have discovered all of the holes." Suddenly, there was a huge explosion. As they turned to look, everyone could see Vigo in front of it, and Serges staggering back. "He's driving Serges away!" The young guard cried happily. "The Weapons are retreating!"

Melchior squinted against the explosion for a while, then shook his head sadly. "No, they're leading him into a trap. Vigo, don't follow them out there!!" Melchior shouted, knowing it was no use. "Try to find a messenger brave enough to go out there. We've got to warn him about- aaugh!!" Suddenly, Jade reared to his full height, almost right in front of them. He began to smash his way into Enhasa. "Earth and Ice mages, counterattack at full power, now!!"

.

Vigo grinned as he ran after Serges and Violen. The two Weapons were now almost running backward across the plateau, only counterattacking once in a while. His smile widened as he raised his arms and cast the most powerful Shadow spell he knew against Serges. Serges was not able to dodge it this time. When the spell resolved, Serges had completely disappeared. Vigo prepared to yell a victory shout, until he noticed the other Weapon had vanished as well.Then he noticed that two of the holes that led to the bottom of the mountain were right behind where the Weapons had just been. An ashen look fell across Vigo's face. Next came two bright flashes, a shaking more violent than any earthquake, and then, the cracks already in the ground widened until the plateau broke free of the mountain. Vigo bowed his head, waiting for the mountain to fall away.

It never fell. "Huh?" Vigo looked up. "What the hell is keeping it in the air?"

"You'll find out soon enough Vigo." Serges said as he climbed back onto the plateau. "Right now in fact, if you'll follow Violen and I."

"Gladly!" Vigo roared.

"Your majesty, I would strongly recommend against doing anything these two say. They're sure to be leading you into a trap." Maro said, wheezing.

"I don't know. They've stopped their attack. Maybe seperating us from the mountain was enough for them... for now, anyway." Vigo started walking after the Weapons, but changed his mind. "Say Maro... Since the Sun stone isn't powering those chains anymore, have somebody bring it over here." Then he ran after Serges.

"There may not be time to get it!" Maro shouted after him. "Rats. He didn't hear me. Well..." Maro touched his hands to his temple.

"Huh? Maro? When did you get back?" Melchior whirled around, but found no sign of the old wizard.

"I am communicating telepathically! Vigo wants the Sun stone, so have someone send it now! The Weapons are acting friendly, and that scares me more than when they were openly attacking us!" Then, Maro cut the telepathic link.

Vigo realized the Weapons were leading him toward Alpha bunker. It was the farthest remaining bunker from Enhasa. Violen and Serges jumped across the narrow gap to the mountain. Serges grinned. Vigo didn't like this, and hopped down into the bunker. "Now Vigo," Serges began, "the power source of the mountain is now... someone you've already met!" With that, Violen and Serges jumped up, and landed near where Maro was running to the bunker.

"And just where do you think you're going old man? Let's see what you've got!" Maro gulped, but his hands began to glow just the same.

Vigo would have gone to help Maro, but he did not notice what was happening. Across the gap, on the mountain, a shape even bigger than the Weapons was rising up. It's head was shaped vaguely like a bat, but the rest of the body was humanoid, and even more massively muscled than Serges. But the thing did not move yet. It just stood there, as still as a statue.

Vigo jumped as a bolt of energy slammed Maro into the bunker beside him. He quickly healed the old man, and then jumped again as the ground beneath the bunker rose up high above the land around them. Serges walked up to the bunker, which was now high enough for him to look inside. "Well, are you two ready to die? The time has come for you to pay the price for draining the planet!" With that, Serges and Violen jumped over to the mountain again. The shape across the gap began to move. "Shivan didn't appreciate your ending his existance as a Weapon, so he's come to complain in person... as a Gaia!"

With that, the Gaia roared to life. It immediately hurled spells of many different magic types at the bunker, which Maro took it upon himself to repel. After the initial barrage, Maro collapsed to the ground. Vigo hurled many spells back, but the Gaia almost seemed invincible. After a protracted period of spellcasting, Vigo managed to blow the Gaia's arms off. "What do you think of that Serges?!" Vigo yelled. "Your Gaia isn't so tough!"

Serges didn't answer, but just watched with satisfaction the expression that appeared on Vigo's face as the Gaia's arms immediately reappeared. Vigo flew into a rage, and for a few minutes, neither side could see Vigo or the Gaia as they hurled spells back and forth. A pause in the action revealed that both were wounded badly. Suddenly, Violen whispered something to Serges. He nodded reluctantly, and the Gaia ceased it's attack.

Vigo turned his aching head to the side as he heard two sets of feet running up to the bunker. To his surprise, horror, and delight, Zeal and Schala appeared at the blown-apart wall. "What are you two doing here?! Its too dangerous!"

"Yes, it is." Zeal nodded her head. "You're going to get killed if you stay out here. Please Vigo, agree to land the island! Its better than having us all get killed up here!"

"I can't believe what I'm hearing! I'll be fine. I can defeat these guys!" Vigo looked at the object in her arms. "You brought the Sun stone! Great, give it here!" Vigo grabbed the stone from her arms.

"That's just the adrenaline rush talking!" Zeal yelled at him. "You don't realize how badly hurt you are already, do you?" Vigo looked at himself in surprise. He was bleeding and burned in many places.

"Zeal, I'm not gonna die! I love you too much to leave the mortal coil this soon. I will be fine, believe me." Suddenly, Maro awoke slightly.

"Zeal..."

"Father! What happened to you?!" She glared at Vigo accusingly.

"Not his fault... Listen, your moth-" Maro was interrupted by a fit of coughing. He tried many times to finish his sentence, but it could not be done. Finally, he gave up, and switched topics. "Listen Zeal... You must remember. The blue haired man... he is our savior..." With that, Maro drifted into unconsciousness.

"Blue haired man? That's impossible! Well, come along Schala. We have to get to safety." Zeal turned and walked out of the hole in the wall. Schala ran over to Vigo and threw her arms around his waist.

"I love you daddy." She whispered, than ran out the hole. Vigo looked up as heavier footsteps came back his way. Zeal reappeared in the ragged gash in the bunker.

"Of course, you know I love you too. With all my heart." Then, she was truly gone.

Vigo looked down at the glowing stone in his hands. Was it truly worth possibly dying to keep his kingdom in the clouds? He pondered these recent events for a minute. "Enough waiting!" Serges roared from across the mountain. "Gaia! Resume your attack!"

All of Vigo's determination came rushing back. "Its time you all had a taste of the magic of the sun!!" He roared back at Serges. Before the Gaia could act, Vigo hoisted the Sun stone high, and whispered an incantation. A truly huge beam of light raced out of the stone and impacted with tremendous force into the Gaia. As the light faded, Vigo's eyes could barely register that the Gaia was leaning forward, wounded badly. "Care some more?!" He yelled up at Serges.

To Vigo's dismay, Violen waved her arm, and a healing light fell on the Gaia. It immediately straightened up and resumed its battle stance. "I guess you do." He smiled. He concentrated, and summoned more energy from the Sun stone.

It didn't come. Looking down, Vigo was shocked to discover that no glow radiated from the Sun stone's heart. "You little piece of crap!" Vigo roared at the stone. He threw it away from the bunker. Assuming a more defensive postion, Vigo began to gather magical waves.

They didn't come either. Vigo could barely get his eyes to glaze over in his sudden panic. Once they were, he saw clearly that there were no more magical waves in the area. It was totally empty. He prepared to teleport away, but even that last resort wouldn't work.

"What's this? Vigo all out of tricks?" Serges asked in a mocking voice. "I guess its time you learned WE are the ones who are not to be messed with!"

Vigo's emotions and reflexes were going haywire. He couldn't get anything to work, and his feelings ranged between fear and anger. He suddenly realized how foolish it was to have come out here all alone, to trust that the Sun stone would be enough to finish the battle, and especially not to have listened to Zeal and ran when he had the chance.

By the time the fireball began to form in the Gaia's hands, Vigo was resigned to his fate. Quiet, reserved dignity seemed best. Anything else would be futile. Even so, he was amazed at the size of the fireball when the Gaia finally hurled it. The fire inside his eyes was dwarfed just by the reflection of the huge spell. "And so, the end comes..." he whispered, "Beyond chaos."

At the last moment, Vigo observed that the fireball was nearly five times as large as the bunker. It smashed into the bunker with blinding speed, destroying it in an instant, and killing Maro in that same instant. A tear would have formed in Vigo's eye if he still had any tear ducts. But not because of the excruciating physical pain. It was because he was losing Zeal, and to end that pain, he gladly welcomed the releasing nothingness of death. But somehow, the fireball did not kill him instantly. As Serges' laughter filled the air, he realized that although his skin had burned off, he was still alive, even though he wasn't going to stay that way. Overall, Vigo's death was very bad; long, drawn out, and incredibly painful.

.

"What's this? You're not trying to convince me that you're actually SAD, are you?"

"Shut up! My throat is dry. My eyes are on fire..." - Sephiroth and Cloud Strife


	19. Landing

**The Origin Of Mount Woe Chapter 19**

**Landing**

By Nanaki

12,010 B.C.

"VVVVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

The agonized scream came from half a dozen throats at once, but especially painfully from Zeal. Schala just stood in disbelief, no longer paying attention to the Weapon behind her. Even Jade temporarily ceased his attack, to pay his respects to a worthy foe. As tears began to form in Schala's eyes, she saw three objects racing out of the explosion toward her. First, the Sun stone landed at her feet, but empty of all light. Next, the pendant, with most of the chain melted off. Last was Vigo's dagger. It imbedded itself in the earth in front of Schala's feet, nearly stabbing into the pendant. Schala stared at that for a little while, before crying out.

"No!! The pendant made it worse!!" Zeal turned her tear filled eyes toward Schala.

"How could anything have made it worse?!"

"The pendant!... It wasn't enough to save him, but it kept him alive during... oh no." With an angry look on her face, Schala yanked the dagger out of the ground and pointed it at Jade. "You sir, have just made the biggest mistake of your life."

Before anyone else could say anything, Melchior broke in from his perch on the rooftop. "I hate to break it to all of you, but that explosion isn't dissipating." As everyone turned to look at Vigo's funeral pyre, they saw that the explosion did indeed seem to just be hovering in midair. To everyone, including Jade's, surprise, the explosion suddenly raced outward, destroying the plateau as it came.

As Zeal viewed the burning chunks of rock flying toward her, she only thought 'Good. At least I won't have to wait long to be with him.' Zeal began to run toward the blast, welcoming her own death. Schala quickly flicked her wrist, and Zeal froze in place. Her small voice managed to carry above the sound of the encroaching destruction.

"Yes, Mr. Weapon, this was a very big mistake on your part."

.

"King Karak! Karak, wake up!"

"Huh?" Karak wearily rubbed his sleep filled eyes. "What's the matter?"

"Its Enhasa! The mountain is-"

"You know I've told you all never to bother me with that floating piece of-"

"But sire! The mountain broke off and the plateau is on fire!"

"What?"

"Come outside and see!" Karak followed the excited messenger outside. When clear of the caves, he could see that the plateau had indeed broken free of the mountain, and was now beginning to sink toward the ground. Karak stared at the ground for a few minutes.

"Organize our emergency relief forces." He finally said. "Because those people are definitely going to need our help when that thing lands."

.

Many of the mages from the bunkers continued to run toward the relative safety of Enhasa, even though it was too late. The explosion engulfed them as well, and finally dissipated only about fifty feet from the walls of Enhasa. The still form of Zeal was right on the brink; the rest of the plateau had broken up and fallen away. "Good work Gaia." Serges complimented the huge beast. "We can handle it from here." With that, he and Violen jumped to the remains of the plateau, and the Gaia slowly sank back into the mountain.

As survivors ran every which way in panic, with Melchior desperately trying to get things organized, Schala strode calmly toward Jade, who had walked back toward the plateau, for some unknown reason. Suddenly, she was thrown from her feet as Serges and Violen landed right in front of her. But before he or the Weapons could do anything, a voice came from the far end of the plateau. "Oh Serges, Vigo wasn't the only one who could fight back!"

Looking up, Schala saw Masa sitting on top of what she assumed was the odd man's ship. A light came on inside, and she could see Mune and Doreen sitting in the cockpit. Serges took a precautionary step back, to no avail. A huge beam of energy launched from each side of the ship, knocking Serges and Violen to the ground. From the top of the craft, Masa fired a smaller weapon continuously, keeping the two Weapons down. Schala began to cheer, but stopped suddenly. 'Where's Jade?!' Her mind screamed.

As Jade suddenly jumped up behind the ship, a thin vein of jade erupted from the ground, forming a scimitar at the top. Jade broke off the scimitar on the way down, swinging it in a tight arc. The ship was cloven in two, energy sparking out of severed connections. "I take it there are no more hero wannabes out here?" Serges demanded angrily. Schala stepped forward.

"No. But I am my father's daughter, and you must pay for what you have done!"

"Tough talk for someone who's never been in a battle. Violen, you can sit this one out. Jade, resume your attack on Enhasa." As Serges spoke, he began shrinking back to the size he had been when he first appeared, about fifty feet tall. "Now, li'l princess, let's see how you do against me!" Schala accepted the invitation. Purple bolts of energy flew from her hands. The impact seemed to snap Serges' head back, until she realized he was leaning back to laugh. The laughter stopped as quickly as it had begun. Serges extended his arm, and his most powerful lightning spell raged across the plateau in a huge blue explosion. Schala was burned and buried under several feet of earth. After healing herself and crawling out, she had no energy left. She wanted to cry and run to her mother, but she was too tired even for that. Serges raised his foot to crush her where she lay. "That was almost too easy!"

"No Serges!" A restraining hand was placed on his shoulder. Serges whipped around to see Violen, who had shrunk to about forty five feet tall, standing behind him. Jade, who was far enough away not to hear them, assumed there was a reason for this and also shrank back to his original size before continuing his attack.

"How dare you stop me?!" Serges screamed.

"She's only a child!" Violen yelled back.

"She must perish! There must never be another Jenova!"

"You're wrong about her Serges. She is both Jenova and Cetra." Violen placed herself protectively between Schala and Serges.

"Are you defying ME?!"

"You still want to kill her?" Violen drew her own weapon, a long, jagged spear.

"Of course!" Serges drew his sword again.

"Then yes!" Violen ran forward, casting a fire spell at the same time.

"I always hated that you could do that." Serges grumbled, then charged forward to meet her.

.

Karak ran toward the plateau as it neared the ground, but not too fast. He didn't want to be crushed underneath it. He couldn't see anything on top of it, except for one figure balanced precariously on the edge. He stopped as the plateau finally came to rest on the ground. It didn't land hard enough to break it up, but the impact was pretty great all the same. Karak saw the figure perched on the edge topple off, and come alive again in midair. He rushed to catch the person.

Her landing nearly tore his arms out of their sockets and strained his back. "That doesn't work quite like the stories tell, does it?" He groaned, then set the person down.

"No, it certainly doesn't." Zeal rubbed her back. "Thank you Karak. I haven't seen you in a while."

"You either. So what's going on here? Is Schala... and... any other kids, you may happen to have... all right?"

"Bad time to bring up that touchy subject." Zeal scowled. "No, there's still just Schala-maybe,"

she said, looking up at the destruction, "and now that Vigo's dead, it looks like she's all I'm ever going to have." Zeal had decided that since she had just been spared from death twice, she might as well go on living.

"Well then we better get up there and save her!" Karak shouted, surprised to find himself angry about Vigo's death.

"WE? You're coming along?" Zeal looked up, surprised.

"Of course! And more of my people will be ready down here to help." Looking back toward Algetty, Zeal saw torches blazing and people hurrying out toward the plateau.

"Provided there's anyone left to help."

"Huh? Why do you say that?"

"Well there's... You better come see." Zeal changed her mind in the middle of her sentence. 'We weren't prepared. Why should he be?' She asked herself. Now some of the other earthbound ones had run out to where they were.

"Sir, are we going up there to help?" One of them asked.

"No." Karak gave Zeal a funny look. "Not until I come back and tell you so." He turned back to Zeal. "Ready to climb up?"

"Climb up?" Zeal said scornfully. "No way! Just don't drop your sword in the void!" With that, she teleported them both away. The earthbound ones milled around the base of the plateau for a few seconds, before they filed back to Algetty. So there was no one to notice when one boy, about eight or nine years old, and another, a small toddler, began to slowly scale the side.

.

Melchior leaped down the stairs as a stray fireball from the Weapon battle smashed into his perch. He tumbled down to the bottom of the flight, realizing he was lucky to be alive. The Weapons were doing almost as much damage fighting each other as they had when they were openly attacking. The remaining mages did not want to break up the fight now that every powerful mage had already been killed or wounded badly. Melchior got up and began to run outside, only to trip over a red lump on the floor.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Spekkio yawned as he stretched out.

"You've been in here sleeping this whole time?!" Melchior almost screamed.

"Yeah. What's the problem?" Spekkio added, seeing the look on Melchior's face.

"We really could have used your help out there! We need a powerful mage now!"

"Why didn't you say so? I am the Master of War! Just lead me to the battle!" Melchior sighed and they both ran out of the building.

.

Zeal and Karak arrived back on the plateau in full view of the battle. "Well, this is an interesting development." Zeal smiled. Jade and Serges were facing off against Violen.

"What the hell are those?" Karak asked, jaw agape.

"Those are our little problem. They call themselves Weapons of the planet." Karak just stood, watching the battle for a minute.

"I can't hope to fight anything like that without magic." Karak sighed.

"You may have to." Zeal said meanly, but without malice.

.

Out of the corner of his eye, Serges saw Zeal arriving back on the plateau. "Jade, you resume your attack. I can handle this traitor myself!" Jade relcutantly but obediently turned back to Enhasa, leaving the two to battle.

Jade saw Zeal and a person he didn't recognize stand waiting for him.

"Zeal, how can I possibly kill this thing?" The man's voice drifted up to Jade's ears.

"You can't human, so surrender now!"

"Just run up and fight!" Zeal shouted at him. "You never seemed to have any trouble fighting Vigo, now go! I'll help!"

Unsure of himself, Karak ran up to the Weapon and jumped in the air, sword held high. As he began to bring the sword down, a small ball of fire flew from Zeal's fingertips. It flew onto the sword just as Karak made the cut, and onward into Jade's midsection. Jade staggered back, clutching his stomach, and then collapsed to the ground. "What happened?" Karak demanded.

"Unless you've got power like Vigo, its pretty hard to blast through that Weapon armor. So I just let you carve a way." Zeal explained, as if he ought not to have asked.

"Where is Schala anyway?" Karak scanned the area. Zeal just shook her head.

.

Schala slowly opened here eyes as a Weapon foot landed right in front of her, showering her with rocks and shaking the ground. Looking up with a vacant expression, Schala was surprised to see Serges fighting one of the other Weapons. They took no notice of her. Schala didn't know who the other one was, but she knew Serges was bad news, and decided to help out this other Weapon however she could. Looking higher up, she saw the stars had come back. 'My magic wasn't powerful enough earlier.' She thought to herself. 'I need something that packs more of a punch.' As if on cue, a shooting star appeared overhead. Before it vanished from sight, Schala latched on to it with all her power.

Serges kicked Violen to the ground, and raised his sword high over his head. "This is the price you pay for - Augh!!" Serges was knocked into the ground by a huge rock falling from the sky. The boulder broke into many pieces in a huge explosion. Serges sat up, panting, but was obviously badly hurt. Looking everywhere for the source of this attack, he spotted Schala, standing quietly. "Now do you believe me Violen? She used Meteor!!"

Violen stared at Schala for a minute, but just shook her head. "That looked more like Comet. And anyway, she used Holy earlier. Sorry Serges. You no longer have the interests of the planet at heart. You're just interested in destruction. Maybe its not a good thing that we were given this intelligence. Weapons should rely on their instincts, not their brains."

"Shut up and fight!" Serges yelled, staggering to his feet.

Violen quickly stabbed her spear into his torso. "I don't think so. You're not exactly in fighting shape anymore." She kicked Serges over, then raised him above her head. Using all her strength, she threw him forward.

.

"Incoming!!" Karak turned to run.

"Extremely large incoming." Zeal said without excitement. She judged that Serges would not make it to where they were. Lucky for her, she was correct. Serges' sword landed first, stabbing into Jade, who suddenly came to life screaming. Next, Serges landed on top of the sword hilt, driving it through Jade and into the ground. Jade's screams died as he exploded in a blinding green flash, casting green sparks everywhere. The force of the blast threw Serges into Enhasa, where he lay unmoving. Melchior and Spekkio came running out of the building as rubble fell around them.

Melchior was about to say something, but Spekkio interrupted. "There's someone here without magic! I say, how can you hope to fight that thing without magic?"

Karak realized the odd creature was talking to him. "I really can't hope."

"Well, you'd better let me give you some then!"

"You can give people magic?!" Zeal, Karak, and Melchior shouted simultaneously.

"Of course!" Spekkio smiled. Then he peered at Karak. "Hmm. You would be perfect for that new type of magic Schala just discovered! Ipso facto meenie- How did it go again? It's been a while since I had to do this- mo, Comet!" Fire sprang up in Karak's eyes, and for a minute, Zeal saw some of Vigo in him. Off in the ruined building, Serges began to stir. Karak immediately began running over, and Zeal followed closely.

"Coming Spekkio?" Melchior asked, following them.

"I'll be there in a minute." Spekkio answered. Walking around and slightly behind what was left of the main building, he was surprised to see two kids running across the grass, trying to avoid being seen. "Sheesh, more people without magic?" He asked, annoyed. "What are these Enhasans trying to pull?" The kids froze in place. Spekkio turned to the smaller one first. "What's you're name?"

The little kid remained silent until the older one poked him in the ribs. "Ertai, Mr. Creature-"

The older one poked him again. "-sir."

"Well, your inner character is perfect for the power of Lightning! Ipso facto meenie mo Bolt!" A yellow glow fell on the little kid and he laughed happily.

Now Spekkio turned to the older one. He was very serious looking, as if he couldn't understand what the little one was so excited about. He seemed to be very strong for his age. "My name is Greven." He said with a neutral expression.

"Well Greven," Spekkio began, smiling, "your inner character is..." his expression changed, "..puzzling. The ONLY other person with inner character like this is Schala. I'm not even sure what to call this magic type, but here you go! Ipso facto meenie mo Mysterio!" A purple glow surrounded Greven, and his eyes took on an odd tinge. "Now, you better go join the others before you get in trouble." The two boys didn't say anything else, but just ran off, keeping to the shadows. Spekkio shook his head. He would have to keep an eye on that boy...

.

Karak held his sword ready as Serges opened his eyes. He saw that the other Weapon was sitting down, resting, and he could now see that Schala was out there, working up the courage to talk to the Weapon. "Unh..." Serges groaned. Then, he closed his eyes again, and his head fell back. Karak began to lower his sword. Suddenly, the ground all around him seemed to explode. Serges roared to life, digging his huge hands into the ground, tearing up huge chunks, and hurling them wherever they could do the most damage. "I... am... not... done!!" He screamed in rage. A huge clump of earth landed on Karak.

Karak shook it off and held his sword high. "You're going to wish you hadn't done that." He growled menacingly.

"Why? What can you do to me human?" Serges laughed, slightly hysterically.

"Allow me to show you." Karak grinned. Serges didn't like this. The human was acting like Vigo. Karak began rotating his sword above his head, then suddenly jumped into the air. He yelled something unintelligible, and six large stones launched from his sword, knocking Serges over and smashing gaping holes in his armor.

"More meteors?" Serges gasped raggedly. "You just don't learn do you?" Serges got to his feet, but he was unsteady on his legs, and probably couldn't do much more damage. He stretched out his arm, a blue glow began to form... and then everyone stared as a bloody spear head appeared in his chest. Violen slowly drew the spear out, a sad expression on her face.

"Serges, this is for your own good, please believe me." Then she turned. "All you humans! Cast your spells now!"

Out from the field, Schala obeyed. Her purple explosion started the attack. Through the various forms of magic that raced at Serges, she thought she saw another beam of purple. She didn't see it again, so she assumed her eyes were playing tricks on her. Blue energy began pouring from holes in Serges' body. Zeal didn't know if he was fatally wounded or not, so she strolled forward calmly. "Well Serges, you put up a good fight, but you lose! Consider this, a present from Vigo!" A sadistic grin came over Zeal's face, and an explosion of Shadow power covered Serges. There was a blinding blue flash, and his body seemed to dissipate into mist. Only his heavy armor remained.

From the crowd of the remaining mages, Dalton stepped forward. Ignoring Violen, he walked over to Serges' armor and peered at it closely. "I bet I could make some great stuff with this." He smiled.

"Do what you want with it." Zeal waved him away. "Well, now that the threat to us is finally gone, we need to determine what we're going to do next. I'm calling an emergency meeting of all surviving high ranking officials. Meet in the secondary council room, if its still there, in a half hour."

Violen peered at the mountain. "I wonder what Serges had planned for Enhasa." She whispered.

Only Schala heard her. "Its not Enhasa anymore." She lowered her eyes. "Its a mountain of woe..."

.

Melchior stood as medics carried Belthasar and Gaspar in on stretchers. Far too many people simply weren't here. Most of them were dead, a few were too badly injured to come, and a few more were waiting beside wounded loved ones. After waiting for a few minutes, Melchior realized Zeal wasn't going to be on time, so he was in charge. "Well gentlemen, the storm has passed, and those of us left have to figure out what to do with ourselves. Schala tells us the Sun stone has lost all of its energy, so we can't use that for power. The remaining Weapon of the planet tells us that we can't use the planet's energy anymore, or she will resume her attack. We don't have any other options if we want to raise the plateau up again."

"Vigo would have thought of something." Someone said bitterly.

"So what's going to happen to the kingdom?" Someone else whined.

"There is no kingdom without Vigo." One of the older advisors sighed.

With that statement, the doors of the chamber slammed open. Zeal stood in the wide opening. She looked like she had been crying, but her eyes were dry now. "Wrong." She said in an emotionless voice. "Now there's no kingdom without ME."

.

"You can't give up now! There ain't no gettin' off of this train we on!" - Barret Wallace


End file.
